James Arthur was snubbed by Rita Ora for an album track.
James Arthur
The 28-year-old singer has revealed that the 'Body On Me' hitmaker- who he had a brief fling with in 2013 - ignored all his calls for a possible duet for his comeback album 'Back From The Edge' and so did 'Still Falling For You' songstress Ellie Goulding.
He shared: "It was tough to get people involved in this one because I don't think anyone expected me to come back.
"I was calling Ellie Goulding and Rita Ora, all these guys saying, 'Do you want to sing this line?' I got nothing."
James - who won'The X Factor' in 2012 under the watchful eye of Nicole Scherzinger - made a triumph return to the spotlight after two years with his latest single 'Say You Won't Let Go' and admits his successful comeback has brought familiar faces out of the woodwork, who insist they never doubted him, although he hadn't heard from them when he was on a break.
He told The Sun newspaper: "They have all come crawling back saying, 'Well done, we always believed in you', I'm like so when I was calling trying to get a feature ...
"At least people are humble and have come back and said congratulations.
"I used to speak to Ellie a bit when I first came on the scene. She expressed she was a fan. I didn't hear from her for a while, so to have her come back and say that is amazing. She is super unique and that's inspiring to me."
James has just announced a 14-date UK tour, which kicks off in March 2017 in support of his number one comeback album.
Tagged in Ellie Goulding Rita Ora James Arthur