X Factor runner-up Luke Friend hooks an RCA recording contract

In the X Factor UK, the popular reality-TV singing talent series, it isn’t always the winners who make it big, as testified by Luke Friend (pictured).

Despite coming third in the 2013 edition, the year Sam Bailey won, he has just clinched a major recording contract with RCA Records.

And his first single from the deal, Hole In My Heart, comes out 30 March. It is co-written by Friend and Roy Stride, the Ivor Novello and BRITs nominee who has worked with One Direction. Hole In My Heart is described as an “ode to heartbreak”.

Punters and TV viewers were genuinely surprised when Friend didn’t win the X Factor (see his performance with Ellie Goulding in the video below). But even before the RCA deal, he had toured with pop band The Vamps. And Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, selected him to be an official ambassador for Busking for London, the campaign designed to encourage street performances in England’s capital city.

Friend’s growing success despite being a runner-up in the X Factor makes a good story. But a look at the show’s recent history indicates that the also-runs have done very well after receiving exposure on the programme.

Olly Murs, who was second in 2009, is now considered a best-selling singer, celebrity and a household name. Murs is signed to Syco Music and Epic Records.

Stacey Solomon, who was third that year, makes regular appearances on TV and on stage. Cher Lloyd was fourth in 2010, and she has since found fame in the US.

And hard as it is to believe, One Direction finished third in 2010. Today, they are one of the world’s best-selling music acts. Their first four albums debuted at No.1 in the US’ Billboard 200 chart, the first group to do so in the chart’s history. They have won several BRIT Awards, MTV Music Video Awards, MTV Europe Music Awards, and they have already sold more than 50 million records globally.

[Juliana Koranteng]