CLAIMING to be a heady mixture of Rick Astley, P Diddy and Usher, wannabe popstars Ant and Seb took to the X Factor stage for a performance that would change their lives forever – only not in the way they imagined.
Within seconds of the duo belting out Peter Andre’s 1995 hit Mysterious Girl they were labelled one of The X Factor’s worst-ever acts.
The Cardiff-born brothers, then 19 and 20, were dubbed “Ant and Deaf” and “crazy bad” by judge Simon Cowell in the 2008 audition later watched more than 11 million times on YouTube.
The video went viral, in part due to ‘Mr Nasty’, Cheryl Tweedy and Louis Walsh barely stifling their laughter but also because the duo refused to take no for an answer.
Ant and Seb continued to sing several more songs until they were escorted off by burly security guard Tony and later sang Astley’s Never Give You Up at Simon in the corridor, hoping to change his mind.
Now 18 years on from that iconic moment, the singers have topped the charts – reaching No1 in Amazon New Music category – with their comedy charity single Sprinkle It.
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They also placed second on a Best Sellers chart, beating established acts Drake, Pitbull, Run-DMC and Post Malone, just weeks ago.
Their success is attributable to clips of their audition racking up millions of views on Tiktok and parodies – with one even performed by Peter Andre – being widely created.
Bizarrely, fans have declared Ant and Seb’s comeback “better than a One Direction reunion” and claimed the year “had been saved” by their new hit.
Going from ridicule to runaway success is quite the shock for the Welsh warblers, who are now revealing the shocking truth about their audition for the very first time.
They claim producers set them up, that they were given the ultimatum “perform together or not at all” and reveal the horrifying fallout led Ant to suffer a mental breakdown.
Seb told us: “The X Factor was like many other reality shows, it was edited a lot but people took it at face value and we had a lot of backlash over it.
“We’ve faced people spitting at us in public, had cans thrown at us, and even received death threats – all of which took a toll on Ant’s mental health.
“We lived a very private life after the show and unbeknown to us we had a lot of fans. We didn’t realise how big we were until more recently. People even dress up as us at Halloween.
“Now we’re trying to make the most out of a bad situation and that’s why we are back. We want to show life can get better and to sprinkle a bit of joy into people’s lives.”
Show ultimatum
Music tech students Ant and Seb had a few college performances under their belt when they appeared before The X Factor judges back in 2008.
Prior to that, they had “passed numerous audition rounds” with producers who lavished them with praise.
But their official audition day was plagued with hiccups, after their song – Diddy’s I Need A Girl – was blocked due to ‘copyright issues’ and Seb was stuck in bed battling flu.
Ant went alone and waited “hours and hours in line” only to later be given the ultimatum by producers: “Do it together or not at all.”
He recalls: “After waiting hours with no food or water a decision was made by the producers that I wasn’t allowed in by myself – they wanted Seb too.
“Seb felt really bad that I’d queued so long so he agreed to travel to join me – the producers were adamant, so ultimately we did the audition together.”
On the song change, which set them up to be mocked by the public, Seb says: “The producers were keen for us to perform Mysterious Girl.
I know many reality show contestants have tragically taken their own lives due to how they were portrayed on various shows
Ant
“What we were told would happen and what actually occurred were completely different. Take from that what you will.
“We don’t know what communication the judges had with producers ahead of time or what the producers’ brief or instructions were, but we were in shock on the day to say the least.”
The duo appear to have been misled over how they would be perceived on the show as even in a pre-audition interview, Seb seemed rather confident about their chances.
Grinning, he told the cameras: “X Factor has never had anything like us before, I’m confident enough to say we can win it.”
Later, he told judges they would become “worldwide selling artists” and compared their sound to a combo of Rick Astley, Diddy and Usher.
Not long into their audition Simon stopped them and sniped: “You’re more like Ant and deaf.” He added: “You can’t sing well enough for God’s sake, it’s a no.”
Seb, sticking up for his brother, argued they were “good enough” to be put through and pleaded: “Give us a chance, we’ll prove it to you.”
Their fateful audition ended with Simon summoning security guard Tony, who grabbed them by the scruff off their necks and led them out of the door.
“You know what, you might as well cancel the day,” Simon fumed. “It’s going to be a short day.”
Undeterred, the duo waited outside the room hoping to impress Simon with a rendition of Rick Astley’s Never Gonna Give You Up, only to be told: “Shut up!”
When their audition aired they came under the public’s glare – for both good and bad reasons.
Seb recalls: “We had about four or five girls outside our house yelling ‘We love you Ant and Seb.’
“We were really surprised how many fans we had. We were very popular and had incredible moments like fans running up to us to ask for selfies.”
Suffered breakdown
But also they dealt with mockery, death threats and being spat at while walking down the street. The culmination of it all led Ant to suffer a mental breakdown.
Speaking on the inner turmoil, he says: “I’ve faced significant struggles with my mental health but I want people to know that life can improve and it’s important not to give up or make any life changing decisions you can’t undo.
“I know many reality show contestants have tragically taken their own lives due to how they were portrayed on various shows.”
Fight against those struggles led them to release Sprinkle It, hoping it would “spread some joy” during the festive period – a time known for high suicide rates.
Ant, who still struggles today, says he managed to rebuild his life through charitable acts including feeding homeless people in Cardiff every Sunday.
“I was handing out crisps, pasties, and sausage rolls,” he says. “Just knowing I could make even a small positive difference in someone’s life made a big impact on my own well-being. It was the start of me being able to rebuild my life again.”
Ant and Seb chose to “live a very private life” for many years due to their experiences and bizarrely found luck placing football bets, winning £313,000 over a four-year period.
We get a lot of messages from fans and really enjoy them… As for raunchy messages, we do get those too, and honestly, we enjoy those even more
Seb
They claimed £66,000 in their first year, followed by £60,000, £109,000 and £78,000, which they ploughed into an online pet product business.
But as of last month, the duo have made a music comeback with Sprinkle It, which raises money for Shelter and Shelter Cymru, and are now considering a UK-wide tour.
Aside from topping the Amazon Music charts, they have more than eight million views on TikTok. A teaser for their charity single notched up 480,000 views in 24 hours.
They also inspired the viral meme ‘When your mum says take your brother with you’ – mocking Seb’s unique rapping style.
Seb, who takes it in his stride, adds: “It’s really cool we have now become cult figures online with thousands of followers and millions of views.
“We take the positives and try to have a bit of light-hearted fun with it!”
Viral sensation
Their recent success led to offers to appear on a TV show with Michael McIntyre and also the Staying Relevant podcast with reality stars’ Pete Wick and Sam Thompson.
Seb said: “The offers are coming and we haven’t been back for long. We only came back because we wanted to do something good for charity.”
Bizarrely, even Blue’s Lee Ryan is a fan and requested them to do more live performances and cover their songs.
They also claim to be a “popular Halloween costume choice every year” and that there are “thousands and thousands” of people imitating them on TikTok.
“It was a viral sensation and we didn’t really know,” Seb says. “We had a lot of fans and didn’t realise how big we were until someone recently mentioned it.
“We get a lot of messages from fans and really enjoy them… As for raunchy messages, we do get those too, and honestly, we enjoy those even more.”
The duo were “surprised and shocked” by their charity single’s success because it was achieved without airing on radio or TV and with zero marketing.
“We were really chuffed,” he said. “It’s basically because our TikTok went so viral. We have fans from Sweden, Germany, Norway, all over, begging us to perform there.
“I think we should start with the UK to see how that goes first.”
You can follow Ant and Seb’s comeback plans here: www.antandseb.com.