Rachel Hylton

To put it mildly, Rachel Hylton's X Factor journey wasn't quite as smooth as her mentor's forehead. She struggled with her song choices, didn't always see eye to eye with Dannii Minogue and was plagued by rumours about her troubled past. Having wound up in the bottom two for the third time in four weeks, Rachel was finally eliminated on Saturday, so we gave her a call to discuss her testing time on the show.

Three days on, has it all sunk in?
"It's fine and I'm not upset about it. The bottom line is that X Factor's been a great platform for me, I've got the tour next year and I'm at home with my kids a bit more now."

The judges said several times that you weren't connecting with the public. Did you agree with them?
"No, I don't believe that's true. I know for a fact that there are people out there who supported me and I've got fan mail from people saying they'd definitely buy my album. I know I might not be everyone's cup of tea, but I think that's because of my past and the way I used to live."

Do you think the way you were portrayed in the media affected your chances?
"If I'm honest, I wasn't happy about the negative media coverage I got, but who would be? I put my hands up and I didn't lie about anything and yet they kept printing the same stuff. It did knock my confidence and it made me really unhappy, but people are entitled to their opinions."

You've claimed since leaving the show that Louis didn't like you. What did he do to give you that impression?
"The impression I got from Louis was that he didn't like me. On Saturday he passed a particular comment about his boys being decent and the nicest boys he knew, which I took as a dig at me. I was also really upset when he was horrible to Dannii about the song choices."

How did you feel when he accused Dannii of stealing JLS's song choice?
"I was very upset because my mentor was upset. I don't see the point in lying, so why did Louis need to lie? We were first in line, we chose the song and we started rehearsing it straight away. Simple as."

You didn't seem to bond with Danni earlier on in the series. Why was that?
"You know, I don't really think there was a problem. In any relationship you need to get to know each other and learn each others' likes and dislikes. It was all blown out of proportion. I certainly didn't sack Dannii - how could I sack someone I don't employ?"

There were also rumours that you had an "incident" with another female contestant backstage on Saturday. Is there any truth to this?
"No, I really don't know what they're talking about! Whenever Rachel Hylton's name is mentioned they always seem to make out that I'm a baddie. It's really weird, I'm shocked to hear that."

Do you think the real Rachel came out on the show?
"If I'm honest, no, I don't think the real Rachel came out. But I really hope people remember me for my good performances and the passion I showed."

Do you have any regrets about your time on the show?
"Definitely not! The X Factor has given me such a great platform and it's really boosted my confidence on stage. Would I have done anything differently? Maybe I wouldn't have had scenes because I couldn't sing what I wanted to!"

What's next for you?
"My aim is to secure a record deal. I have been approached by a record company but I'm not going to name them. Obviously I'm in contract [with The X Factor] until next year so I won't be doing anything else for a while, so for the time being I'm seeing what offers are out there. I've got the X Factor tour too, which I'm really looking forward to."

Rachel Hylton will be performing on the 'X Factor 2009 Live Tour' - more information available at www.bookingsdirect.com.