Fleur East revealed that she begged to be "let go" from her contract with Simon Cowell's record label.
The singer walked away from Cowell's Syco label in 2017, three years after she shot to fame by reaching the X Factor final, having grown tired of battling executives about the standards of her music.
“I could see I was being left at the side. Going into studio sessions every single day for two years is mentally draining", East told comedian James Bar on the What If People Find Out? podcast.
She continued: “Then having them go, ‘I just don’t think it's strong enough. That is so, so difficult to deal with and I’d just had enough, to be honest".
The Sax singer revealed that these challenges ultimately led to a face-off: “I walked into the office, demanded a meeting and said, ‘What are you doing with me? Just let me go. I’m a big girl. This limbo, this shelving period is awful. This is worse than just letting me go, so please just do it".
“I had to really force them. Imagine begging to be let go".
This comes after Simon Cowell had recently apologised for being a "d***" to pop stars. He admitted that he went "too far" with his harsh put downs that he used to give when he was judging on the X Factor, saying that he is now "sorry".
Speaking to The Sunday Times, Simon Cowell reflected upon his time working with singers on The X Factor in the UK and US, conceding: “I did realise I’ve probably gone too far".
He added: “What can I say? I’m sorry. I’m not proud of it. But then again, the upside is that it made the shows really popular worldwide".
Last year, it was confirmed that a new Netflix series searching for the next boyband by Simon Cowell, would be launched.
The show, Simon Cowell: The Next Act, will see the music mogul hold open casting calls before releasing the debut single of a new music group. More on this story here.
