'X Factor': Kimberley Southwick

After acing her audition, battling her way through boot camp and sneaking into Sharon Osbourne's final three, it seems a shame that Kimberley Southwick was voted off the The X Factor on Saturday. But rules are rules, as they say, and somebody had to go first. After her high-octane performance of 'It's Raining Men' failed to impress the judges – Simon Cowell labelled it "karaoke on a big budget" – the 19-year-old from Tamworth, Staffordshire wound up in the bottom two alongside her 'girls 14-24' colleague Alisha Bennett. Sharon refused to choose between her contestants, but the other judges cast their votes coolly, opting to eliminate the effervescent barmaid. We caught up with Kimberley to find out what she thought of Sharon's behaviour, why she doesn't want to be "reined in" and – cripes! - how she nearly set fire to the X Factor house.

How are you feeling today?
"I'm feeling fine, I really am. It's all good."

Were you surprised to have been voted off on Saturday?
"Yes, I was surprised. Of course nobody wanted to go first, but it's a well-known X Factor curse that the first contestant to perform tends to be the first voted off, so I was sort of half expecting it. It's happened, so I'm just keeping positive about it."

Why do you think your performance wasn't as popular as some of the others?
"I'm not sure - maybe because it was a bit different? A lot of the others just stood there and sang, and I could have easily done that and my vocals probably would have been ten times better, but that's not me. I wanted to show my real personality and get a bit mad with it."

Were you pleased when you were asked to sing 'It's Raining Men'?
"I love the song! It's a very hard song to sing because it's so belty and it's really low at the beginning, which I really struggled with. I didn't have much say in to be honest, so I just went along with what everyone else was telling me to do."

Simon called your performance "karaoke on a big budget". How did you feel when he said that?
"As soon as I got the song, I said to the producers: 'I know exactly what Simon's going to say - he's going to call it karaoke.' I mean, there's no denying it's a karaoke song. It's 'It's Raining Men' for God's sake!"

And Dannii remarked that you needed to be "reined in" a little. What do you think she meant by that?
"I think she just meant that I'm a bit of a wild one sometimes. I think she was just advising me to control myself a bit more, which obviously I can do, but I don't want to. At the end of the day, I want to be me."

Last week you mentioned that you hadn't spoken to Sharon in over a month. Do you think your lack of mentoring affected your chances on Saturday?
"I really don't think it did, because other contestants who spoke to their mentors all the time still got it wrong. I mean, Leon still got slated for the style in which he performed his song. I really don't think it's down to the mentor to be honest, but, I'll tell you what, Sharon's been behind me since I've left. She even had me round for Sunday lunch! She didn't need to do that, so it was really nice of her."

How did you feel when Sharon refused to choose between you and Alisha?
"I thought fair play to her. When I looked at her and realised what she had to do, I just felt really bad for her. At the end of the day, she was just sticking up for us. Why should she have to choose between two of her acts that she loves equally? It would have been really hard for her."

So you admire the way she reacted?
"I think so. She was just angry and upset about everything. She was angry that I went on first, because of the whole X Factor curse thing, but she was also angry that, after the show had been advertised to go out at 5,45, it actually went out at 5.30. A lot of people missed my performance because of that."

Do you think she'll return to the show next Saturday?
"I'm not sure. At the minute she's just really upset, and she just feels really betrayed by the whole thing. She feels like she's not getting a fair cut in the deal with all her acts."

What was the atmosphere like backstage on Saturday?
"Very tense, obviously, but everyone is so supportive of each other and enjoys cheering the other contestants on. We've been told by the crew that there's a much better atmosphere than previous years. Without wishing to sound too cheesy, we're like a big happy family."

Is it true you had a couple of accidents in the build up to Saturday's show?
"Yes! I nearly burned down the X Factor house by putting some jacket potatoes in the microwave for half an hour - it literally set the microwave on fire! And then I fell off the back of the stage and really hurt myself, so I've got bruises all up my arm."

What have you gained from your X Factor experience?
"I've gained a lot of friends and I got the chance to go to LA too, which I loved. But, most of all, getting on that stage and singing to millions is such a platform, isn't it? I'm not going to be one of these annoying people that tries to get on the telly for the sake of it. I just like singing and acting and stuff like that. Hopefully, I might get something out of being on the show, but if not, it's not the end of the world."

What are your aims for the future?
"I'm quite laid back to be honest. I just kinda roll with it. If anyone offers me anything, I'll snap it up. I'm trained in musical theatre, which made it really weird for me to do pop on The X Factor, so I'd love to do something in the West End. I'm up for anything though!"

There's been a bit of a controversy surrounding the show this year, with Rhydian complaining about the way he's been portrayed. Are you happy with how you came across on the show?
"The way they've edited everything makes me look ten times more loopy than I was at any one moment in time! Some people have found me annoying, but I've found myself annoying when I've watched it back, so that's just the way it goes. I was me the whole way along, so I'm not really fussed about it."

The X Factor continues on Saturday at 5.45pm on ITV1.