Vickers: 'I was ill after X Factor'

Diana Vickers has revealed that she became ill after leaving The X Factor.

The 'Once' singer, who finished fourth in the 2008 series, explained that she found it difficult to deal with the pressure of the competition.

"When I came out of the show, I was ill," she told the Daily Record. "My whole body collapsed. I was crying every day because I had been through a rollercoaster of emotions.

"I had been on the TV and in the papers every day and had gone back to my mum's cooking and being an average Joe. It was really hard for me to deal with for a while."

She continued: "It was fatigue. I was so tired and I got a really bad throat. My body was done in and I found it really hard to get out of bed. I had been in the X Factor house with these people for nine weeks. I had been performing nearly every day. My body couldn't cope with it and it left me weak."

Vickers added that she would cope better with the competition now as she has more experience.

"At the time, being young, I didn't really know anything about the music industry or people," she said. "I had been brought up in a rosy atmosphere with my friends and it all got a bit crazy.

"Alexandra and JLS had been singing for years. Marvin from JLS already had a record deal and Alex had been gigging and had done The X Factor before. I was new to it all and didn't understand much of it, whereas they were older and knew how to deal with it and compose themselves. They knew who to speak to and what to say."

Vickers releases her debut album Songs From The Tainted Cherry Tree on May 3.