Life after The X Factor has been nonstop for 2008 winner Alexandra Burke.
Caught up in a whirlwind of chart hits, TV and touring, she tells Judith Woods she is determined to live up to her claim to be the happiest person
on earth – ever
'Simon is a sweet softie - he listens to my opinions and will admit when he's wrong,' says Alexandra
When Alexandra Burke sweeps into the building, kissing everyone – and I mean everyone, padding from room to room and picking them off, one by one, like some sort of loved-up predator – her PR man whispers that he’s kept the 2008 X Factor winner well away from caffeine and E-numbers all morning, but he’s still not entirely sure that’s enough to calm her down.
It isn’t. From her opening gambit that she is ‘the Happiest Person On Earth, Ever’, to her closing remarks that she’s just got her first mortgage – ‘How amazingly fabulous is that?’ – Alexandra, a sexy, sassy beauty with flicky hair and a mesmerising pout, is the kind of relentlessly upbeat character who annoys the hell out of grouchy journalists, who nit-pick that she’s so suspiciously happy she’s obviously a complete fake.
Not being a grouchy journalist, however, I am instantly at one with her life-affirming positivity. It is apparent that Alexandra’s giddy elation is as genuine as her Chanel handbag. And, frankly, the way things are shaping up for the 22-year-old, why shouldn’t it be? The handbag came courtesy of Simon Cowell, as indeed did the £1 million deal with his record company Syco, and her Christmas number one ‘Hallelujah’, which two years ago catapulted her into pop history as the first British female solo artist to sell a million copies of a single.
Her second release, ‘Bad Boys’, also made it to number one, ditto her highly polished first album Overcome, a fizzy pop mix with a stellar cast of international producers who also work with the likes of Lady Gaga and Shakira. Her most recent number one, ‘Start Without You’, has proved so infectious that sufferers observe even now, many months later, that once the reggae-dancehall confection enters your brain for the day, it has to be surgically removed at bedtime.
‘This morning when I told my friend what I was doing she said: “Aren’t you bored of photo shoots?” Excuse me? Bored? Why would I be bored, wearing lots of gorgeous cool clothes and talking about my music?’ cries Alexandra, each sentence more declamatory than the last. Apparently her nickname at Syco is Tigger. ‘I don’t take any of this for granted. I live every day as if it were my last, which sounds a bit dramatic, but having visited Haiti for Save the Children and raised money for breast cancer walking the Inca Trail in Peru, I’ve learnt not to sweat the small stuff.
‘I mean, I used to get into a right kerfuffle over mislaying my house keys but in the grand scale of things it’s not that serious. I think it’s impossible to go somewhere like Haiti and see the heartbreaking devastation and not be changed in some way by it. It was a huge reality check. If my presence there raises awareness and keeps the disaster in the news then that’s a great use of my fame. Hopefully I’ll go back again soon to report on the progress of opening a school and people will keep donating.’
Alexandra completed the gruelling Inca trek with fellow celebrities Fearne Cotton, Denise Van Outen and Gabriella Cilmi, together with five women who have survived breast cancer. She admits it
was tough going, as they walked for up to nine hours a day. ‘Seeing these ladies being so strong and determined motivated us all, despite the spiders and creepy crawlies in our tents and the amount of energy required to keep going. It was the best thing I’ve ever done in my life.’
What, better even than winning The X Factor? She squirms, uncomfortable at the glitzy comparison. ‘The X Factor was…different.’ We move swiftly on, Alexandra dragging me with her, conversationally speaking; frankly, once this girl starts talking, it’s hard to get her to stop. Paradoxically, she is at once larger and smaller than life. How shall I put this delicately? I don’t think I can, so here it is: her personality is much, much bigger than you might expect; her derrière is much, much smaller. Dressed as an American baseball pro in her ‘Broken Heels’ video she looked every inch as bootylicious as Beyoncé. Today, in leggings, fierce Louboutin flats and a diamanté Mickey Mouse T-shirt, her figure is an almost disappointingly modest size 8-10.
‘I don’t have boobs so I use padding,’ she reveals. ‘It’s all padding in here! And that’s fine! I am happy with what God has given me, and now that I’m a role model for young girls, I want them to know that you don’t need cosmetic surgery to look good. You just need padding!’
Alexandra openly agrees that Louis Walsh was quite right to have recognised her vulnerability in 2005, when she made it through to the ‘judges’ homes’ stage of The X Factor only to be sent home, Walsh deeming her too young for potential stardom.
‘I couldn’t have coped then with the pressures heaped on me now, because I wasn’t nearly mature or responsible enough to deal with the punishing work regime or the media interest.’
Ah yes, the media interest; there have been kiss-and-tell exes in the tabloids, family trauma when her younger brother attempted suicide, family illness as her diabetic mother Melissa Bell, former lead singer with Grammy Award-winners Soul II Soul, awaits a kidney donor and a concerted campaign of intimidation from local youths that drove Alexandra from her inner-city home.
‘Maybe I was naive, but I never thought my family would come under such intense scrutiny. My brother Aaron couldn’t handle the attention he got because I was famous and last year when I was away in Austria, I got a phone call to say that he’d tried to kill himself, so I got on the first plane home. He’s doing really well now, working part time and going to college, but I can’t say any more because I haven’t talked to him about why he did it and it just wouldn’t be right for him to read about it in a magazine before I’d spoken to him.’
‘I take my music seriously, but don’t take myself too seriously’
Alexandra grew up in Islington, North London – the rough bit where gangs stalk the streets as opposed to the posh bit where Tony Blair lived. Curiously – and poignantly – there was resentment rather than pride among locals when Alexandra hit the big time. Far from celebrating her determination and success, they responded by repeatedly smashing her windscreen and her house windows. Rocks were hurled at her and she was subjected to verbal abuse. She moved out to the leafy edges of North London and now lives alone in a two-bedroom apartment. When she talks about her flat it sounds more like a quiet retreat than a home: peaceful, anonymous, far, not just from the madding crowd, but from those she loves the most – Aaron, her brother David, 23, and her big sister and best friend Sheniece, 25, a nursery worker whom she talks to from anonymous hotel rooms on Skype every night when she’s abroad.
‘I miss my family and I hope to buy a place near them at some point in the future when the fuss dies down. I spend so much time flying to Los Angeles or Paris or Tokyo or Sweden that when I get back to London, I curl up with my pink teddy, called Family – because they gave him to me when I was auditioning for The X Factor – and my yorkshire terrier and watch my box set of Friends.’
Her record company begged Alexandra not to get a dog, as they felt it would tie her down. She ignored them, just as she ignored them when they begged her not to get another tattoo. In fact, she got two new tattoos and now has stars on her foot, a treble clef behind one ear and a sprawling peace and love affair on the nape of her neck. Having taken possession of her dog, moreover, she named him Alfie. Alexandra had forgotten it was the name of Cowell’s dog, too. Her boss was not best pleased – yet she laughed off his protests and Alfie remained Alfie.
‘Simon is a sweet softie,’ she says. ‘He listens to my opinions and took on board the direction I wanted to go in, which is pop rather than R&B. He will admit when he’s wrong, too, although that doesn’t happen very often as he has got the most amazing instinct for what will work.’
Simon isn’t the only one with amazing instinct. Alexandra had a tough childhood – her father left the family when she was six, and later died of cancer in 2004, but through everything Alexandra claims her one certainty was that she would be a singer. By her teens she was performing on the wedding circuit and though her failure to make The X Factor finals in 2005 left her reeling, she kept the faith and returned three years later to claim victory. Mentored by
Cheryl Cole, with whom she continues to have a firm friendship, the trajectory of Alexandra’s success is being compared to that of previous winner Leona Lewis, now a global star. ‘Cheryl is always there for me when I pick up the phone. Once you leave the show it’s down to Simon to support you as an artist. Cheryl supports me as a person – if I come off stage and I feel things didn’t go right, she’ll give me advice. She’s a beautiful woman and a really good, honest person, a warrior who has battled through some difficult stuff – and we just clicked.’
On the other side of the Atlantic, the fact that Beyoncé has taken a keen interest in her career has opened doors. Alexandra has a £3 million recording deal in the US, due in part to Beyoncé’s insistence that US executives watch the Londoner perform during The X Factor tour. ‘I can’t thank Beyoncé enough, she’s been so good to me,’ says Alexandra. ‘I sang a duet with her on The X Factor which was incredible, and now when I’m in the States I see her whenever I can.’
While things are hectic career-wise – a planned tour of Asia, recording extra tracks for a re-release of the album, a huge push into the US next year – there have been lean pickings on the romantic front, so much so that in the past year Alexandra has been improbably linked to both Danny Cipriani and Peter Andre. It’s fair to say she has never dated either. Some proper sizzling love interest might give them something to work with, I suggest. ‘Oh yes! I haven’t got time for a boyfriend, but love interest sounds exciting. Someone who can make me smile and understand my schedule.
And shop for food in Marks & Spencer with me and take me to see a movie.’
This, I suggest, sounds more cosy boyfriend than high-octane love interest. What about Olly Murs? The pair are currently appearing in a Nintendo advert together. He is definitely supermarket-cinema material. Surprisingly, she goes a bit coy. ‘I don’t know Olly well, but he’s a nice guy and I could see us being…friends.’
Another lucrative ad deal is Alexandra’s contract with Sure deodorant; isn’t the sweat-prevention industry rather the antithesis of glossy glamour? ‘All I can say is, they made my armpits look and feel amazing,’ she says blithely. ‘I take my music seriously, but don’t take myself too seriously – once you do that it’s time to give up the day job.’ And with that she laughs so raucously that it ricochets off the walls.
The deluxe edition of Alexandra’s album Overcome with new tracks and a DVD will be released on 6 December
‘Bored? Why would I be bored?’
Happy ever X Factor – two years in the incredible life of Alexandra Burke
From left: December 2008 after duetting with US superstar Beyoncé on The X Factor grand final; performing at London’s Wembley Arena on the final night of The X Factor tour, March 2009
From left: Visiting survivors of the Haiti earthquake, February 2010; a photocall at Selfridges with London Wasps rugby star Danny Cipriani, March 2010
From left: On stage, July 2010; trekking the Inca Trail in Peru with Fearne Cotton and Denise Van Outen to raise money for Breast Cancer Care, September 2010
Source:Dailymail