X Factor winner Joe McElderry Music Comes First
X Factor winner Joe McElderry has ended speculation about his sexuality, insisting he is straight.
The 18-year-old, who won the final with six million votes, said he has had girlfriends, but has still not slept with anyone.
He also said he does not fancy his mentor Cheryl Cole at all - saying she is just a friend - and revealed he has imposed a sex ban on himself so that he can concentrate on music.
Living the dream: Joe McElderry, seen outside a London hotel today, will be flying to Los Angeles to work on his first album
Joe told The Sun newspaper: 'I'm straight. I've had girlfriends, but I don't have one right now. I haven't slept with anyone, but I'm a young lad and I'm concentrating on my music.
'I know I'll probably get offers but - for me - it's all about the singing for now.
'At the moment the last thing on my mind is a girlfriend,' he added.
He also dismissed reports he had a fling with fellow contestant Rachel Adedeji, adding: 'She's a mate - she makes me laugh. There was nothing going on.'
And of Cheryl he said: 'Cheryl is a stunning looking woman but, as I got closer to her, she became a friend.'
Pop star is born: Newly released pictures show Joe filming the video clip to his new single The Climb
Joe also revealed how he met glamour model Katie Price - who had an affair with former X Factor winner Gareth Gates - backstage, but admitted there was 'no spark' between them.
'I'm flattered that people are saying she might be interested - but there is no spark,' he added.
'It would be a bit wrong, don't you think? She's quite a few years older than me.'
Joe also insisted he wouldn't blow his new-found wealth on drink and drugs.
'I have never ever done drugs. I have drunk, but I'm not a drinker. I'm quite a well-behaved person anyway. I respect my mam.'
Joe is to be whisked from his cramped flat in the North East to a life of celebrity and sun in Los Angeles.
The 18-year-old, still stunned by his success in the final at the weekend, will spent nine months in California next year.
Simon Cowell has signed up Ryan Tedder - the creator of Leona Lewis's global hit, Bleeding Love - to pen tracks for the teenager’s new album.
Cowell, 50, will do everything possible to ensure he turns Joe into his next big star, after previous male winners Steve Brookstein, Shayne Ward and Leon Jackson all flopped in the charts.
Miss Lewis, who won in 2006, has been the show’s greatest stand-out success and brings in millions for Cowell’s record company, Syco, a subsidiary of Sony BMG.
Chart battle: Joe is hoping The Climb, a cover of the Miley Cyrus hit, will be the Christmas No. 1
The teenager, who shares a humble home with his mother Eileen in South Shields, Tyneside, revealed he had only had two hours sleep since he won the ITV talent contest on Sunday night, watched by a staggering 20 million viewers.
And as he embarked on a gruelling promotion campaign for his new single, McElderry, who has won a million pound recording deal, yesterday told the Mail that he would not see his mother or father Jim for weeks, adding: ‘I hope I will get home for Christmas, right now I am so busy. I have got so much on in the next week. I am tired already.
‘I saw my family briefly after the X Factor but I won’t see them again properly until I get back to South Shields for Christmas. I think I will be back by then. We are planning a big family dinner.’
The youngster also told how he had put his love life on hold to concentrate on his career, saying: ‘I am single. I didn’t have a girlfriend before I went in the house and I don’t have one now.
You're a star now: Joe told This Morning hosts Phillip and Holly that he had had only two hours sleep
‘But to be honest I am not really looking I just want to put all my energy into singing.’
He said that even though Cheryl Cole had been his mentor, Cowell had given him a boost saying: ‘Simon told me well done, and that he is here for me and he is going to do everything he can to make me a success.
‘I would like a career over in America. Initially I would like to be a successful singer but in a few years I would like to act as well.
‘I would like to give songwriting a try. I haven’t done it before really but it is something that I want to do. That would give me the whole George Michael package.’
McElderry’s version of The Climb, a cover of a Miley Cyrus hit, is already number one on iTunes.
However, he is facing competition for the Christmas number one spot on Sunday from Rage Against The Machine's Killing In The Name, which is being championed by an anti-X Factor internet campaign.
Today Amazon said its sales showed the expletive-rich 1992 track Killing In The Name was nudging ahead.
'I could get used to this': Joe was besieged by fans as he left the ITV studios after his This Morning appearance
A CD version of McElderry's track The Climb is released on Wednesday and it is expected he will go on to capture the No. 1 spot.
He is the most popular winner yet of the show, which is now in its sixth series, taking almost two thirds of the 10 million votes cast in the final.
The youngster also won the public vote for the previous four shows, meaning he could potentially have an enormous fan base to buy his music material.
McElderry said he had spoken to call centre worker Olly Murs as Xtra Factor host Holly Willoughby announced that Murs had never come top of the phone votes throughout the series.
She said that everyone on production had picked Murs as a winner, but added: ‘Olly never won a week - he was never voted the favourite, so although all us thought that back in boot camp, the public never agreed with that.’
McElderry said: ‘I spoke to him last night and this morning, and honestly I couldn't have picked a better person to be in the final with, he's such a nice person and I've made a really good friend, he's such a genuine person and he's amazing and I think he'll do really well.’
It is understood Cowell has enlisted Tedder, who also wrote Lewis’ new hit Happy and has also earmarked top producers he wants to work on McElderry’s album.
He has already admitted that he wants to spend time ensuring that the record is a huge hit and told the Mail: ‘I have learnt over the past year that you can’t make a decent album in less than seven or eight months. Full stop you just can’t.
Landslide: Joe won almost three quarters of the 10 million votes cast in the final on Sunday night
Chart bound: Joe is delighted to see the cover of his new single which was handed to him by host Dermot O'Leary
McElderry said he and Cowell would sit down and speak at length about his future later this week.
It also emerged that McElderry, who studies performing arts at Newcastle College, could use his performances on The X Factor to go to his final grade, if he wants to complete his course.
His tutor revealed that each week they were sent a video recording of him in rehearsal.
They then graded it before assessing his performance during the live finals every Saturday night.
His marks will now go towards his final grade - if he ever completes the course.
Course leader Steve Halliday, 36, said the teenage, who was already one year into his BTEC National Diploma - had inadvertently completed up to 30 per cent of his second year by simply being on the show.
'Cheryl Cole and the rest of the judges weren't the only ones scrutinising his performances - we were watching carefully too,' he said.
'He was halfway through his course when he got onto the show and we were obviously delighted to see him doing well.
'But there are many modules on the course that he has inadvertently completed on the show.
'A large part of the course is rehearsing and performing and he has demonstrated plenty of that to us in the past few weeks.
'We haven't sat and worked it out yet but I would say around 20 to 30 per cent of the second year of his course has been completed while he has been on the show.'
But they do not expect him to return to college immediately. Instead they have offered him the chance to fit his studies around his other commitments.
'We can e-mail over some essays and hopefully if he has time he can work on them and get his course finished,' added Mr Halliday.
'He's not only a talented performer he was academically successful too and passed every module in his first year with a distinction.
Joe's single, a cover of Miley Cyrus's song The Climb, is available to download now and will be in shops Wednesday
