Kye Sones on the great X Factor myth

And then there were six. With boyband trio District 3 now out of the running, this year’s X Factor is down to the last few amateur pop hopefuls, hoping to go pro, their fate in the hands of the show’s 7.6 million viewers. At least, that’s what we’re supposed to believe.

“This year you were allowed to audition for the show if you already had a manager,” says Kye Sones, the 30-year-old who was ejected from the contest’s “Overs” (over-28s) category eight days ago. A new rule, X Factor says, to ensure they get the best talent to show up.

“Most of the people left [in the competition] already have previous management,” he explains.

Sones, with his sideswept hairstyle and a handful of skull rings and beaded bracelets, is sitting in the meeting room at Quest Management in Westbourne Park, in a converted chapel that used to belong to Stella McCartney.

The company, which also represents Paul McCartney, was appointed this year to manage those finalists who, like Sones, were not already represented. It has snapped into action since his X Factor exit — setting him up with plenty of gigs and TV appearances.

“I haven’t had a moment to sit down and process. It’s all a bit of a whirlwind,” says Sones.

Meanwhile the remaining six acts battle on, of which Union J and those two with the best odds to win, Jahmene Douglas and Ella Henderson, were all signed to managers before they even joined the audition queues.

Some were even scouted. “I suggested going on X Factor [to Jahmene],” says Douglas’s manager David Steele of Hi Tone Music. “They [X Factor] came to me asking if Jess Hall, another of my acts, would like to audition but she’s already signed to Sony so I suggested Jahmene instead.”

For Sones, who as a struggling musician had resigned himself to working on building sites as a chimney sweep for his uncle’s business, none of that matters.

“For me it wasn’t that I really wanted to win it,” he says. “I’ve been in bands for years and played every small club up and down the country and once my first audition went on TV, I had more people notice me than during three years slugging around every club.”

Since he left X Factor, his mentor Gary Barlow has been in touch every day. “I said my main priority was to work with him in the future and he said, ‘Yeah, let’s speak in the New Year and let’s get on with it’ … That’s why I went on the show,” says Sones.

“It wasn’t just like a weekend job for him,” he explains. “He’s been on the phone, email, text literally every week about everything from what you are going to wear and what your hair is going to be like.”

“The one thing I noticed is how professional the machine is,” explains Sones. “It’s slick and it’s so well run. Every single person who worked on it, even from that very first bit to me leaving, was really nice and really professional. They don’t treat you like crap, they really look after you.”