X Factor: James Arthur Has Admitted He Was Up To £300,000 In Debt Due To Big Bets On Football Matches

The 33-year-old singer who won Simon Cowell‘s singing contest in 2012, “didn’t realize” he had run into financial trouble after betting on football matches.   “I was like £200... £300,000 in debt”  

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James who has battled depression and drugs misuse blamed his "lifestyle" for getting him into debt.   "Bit of gambling, bit of betting on football and s***," he explained.  

"There were a few big bets. I didn’t even realise I’d got myself in debt. It was my accountant saying, ‘You’re kinda in the red here’.”

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James even claims he was betting so much and doing well that one betting app banned him completely.

"I got a couple of massive wins on football accumulators on a couple of apps. I predicted five results or something like that. Crazy money I won. I didn’t have a gambling problem – a lot of football fans will bet on the football on Saturday whether they are into gambling or not."  

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He added: “I got banned because I won so much money, they were, like, ‘We basically don’t want you on this app’. I got kicked off. So I can’t go on any of the apps any more because I won so much money. It was kind of a blessing. It forced me not to gamble. I deleted all the apps.”

The singer has also recently revealed that he regrets sleeping around after he first won the TV talent show.

He explained: “I’m not exactly f***ing Brad Pitt but I broke a few hearts along the way and I definitely treated some girls in a way that I regret, just because I was getting away with it, I suppose. All of a sudden there was no graft involved at all with getting girls."

James ex-girlfriend Rita Ora

“You go and do a show, you get a girl and, before you know it, you’re just DMing girls left and right and sex becomes the focus. A lot of it is for validation."

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“But you’re punching well above your weight. A lot of times I wouldn’t even meet up with girls, it was just knowing that they were into me and that I could have had them. It’s got me in trouble and made me look a certain way in the past.”

"It was ridiculously easy. There would be no emotional attachment and it would be just pure sex, and with one or two exceptions that was how it was."

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James is now in a long-term relationship with his dancer girlfriend Jessica Grist.