He may well go down in X Factor history as the actΒ who reduced Simon Cowell to tearsΒ β but hopeful Josh Daniel almost opted for a different song altogether at his audition.
Speaking to the Mirror Joshβs friend Kerrianne Covell β who reached the judgesβ houses stage of the ITV series in 2014 β revealedΒ that heβd actually had his eye on another track, but chose to sing Labrinthβs Jealous after performing it for her and friend Liv Quantrill.
βJosh was going to sing Kiss Me Quick by Nathan Sykes,β Kerrianne recalled.
βWe were in the dance studio and Liv said βI donβt think thatβs the song. What are your other song choices?β
βI think Jealous was like his fourth choice. He didnβt want to sound too much like Labrinth.β
However, the pair managed to change his mind after being blown away by a performance which saw him kneeling on the floor to sing.
βI said Thereβs no question about it. If you can touch the hearts of people like you just with did us, just kneeling on the floor, itβs got to be that oneβ,β Kerrianne explained.
βThat was a couple of days before his audition and he rang to ask if he could change his song.β
Josh revealed on Sunday nightβs show that he was dedicating the song to his friend Tom Woolley, who died in 2013 aged just 18.
Viewers saw Simon β whose mother Julie Brett died shortly before auditions began β becoming visibly upset as the performance went on, laterΒ being driven away in a golf cart as Cheryl F-V and Nick Grimshaw were left wondering what to do.
