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By GEORGINA LITTLEJOHN

Fame and fortune beckons: But Matt Cardle, seen here leaving Radio 1 this morning, said he was wasting his life on drink and drugs before winning the X Factor


He has got the world at his feet after winning this year's X Factor competition.

But Matt Cardle has revealed how things could have been very different for him if he'd not entered the ITV talent show.

The lad from Essex, who beat off stiff competition to win the coveted crown, said he was wasting his life away drinking with his friends and taking drugs.

Speaking to the Sun today, the 27-year-old told how he smoked cannabis and spent time 'bumming' around with his friends getting drunk.

He also told about one incident where he was arrested twice - one for being drunk and disorderly and once after cocaine was found in his car.

He said: 'I was a rebel, drifting about having a laugh and a drink with mates. I never went mental but I was stupid.

'In the grand scheme of things it was pathetic. I got nicked for being drunk and disorderly and spent a night in a cell, but it was a joke. We were just stupid idiots.

'I was like any young kid just out having a laugh.'
But he said things took a serious turn when he was arrested after police found cocaine in a car he was driving.


Champion: Matt is surrounded by his fellow X Factor contestants after his win which he said may not have happened


He was let off when it turned out that the drugs were found not to be his, but he still doesn't like to talk about and it briefly said: 'I wasn't charged. It wasn't mine.'

But he did admit to smoking cannabis and said he and his friends would get stoned at music festivals, with a picture of him smoking what looked like a cannabis joint published in the Sun last month.

He refused to say whether he still smokes the drug, and the photo was 'just having a good time, relaxing at a festival.'

And he said it was his family who urged him to sort himself and try and make it as a singer after he failed two college courses.

He said: 'They wanted to see something happen in my life. They said, "You can't be bumming around drinking with your mates all the time"".

'They thought if I was serious about wanting to be a singer I should put some real effort into it. The the X Factor came along. Entering it changed my life. It's saved me, in a way.'


Young lad: Matt poses for a class photo at the Stoke College in Sudbury, Suffolk in 1999


Matt is expected to earn about £5million next year after his win on Sunday's final show.

And he said he will treat his family - including paying off his parents' mortgage - and donate some of the money to the CLIC children's charity that helped him beat cancer when he was just 18 months old.

He said: 'I was young but I knew I was seriously ill and that I was in hospital. I had cancer in my kidney and I ended up having to have one removed. I had a slight complication with the operation, but when you're a kid you bounce back.

'It was caught quite early and I was all right. But it could have been worse. So I want to give some money to CLIC. They helped me out when I was sick so it seems like the right thing to do.'


Aspirations: Matt played the guitar from a young age
Matt's debut single, a cover of Biffy Clyro's Many Of Horror, which he has recorded under the title When We Collide.


But he would also like to have as much input into his music career as possible and hopes to get a lot of his own songs on his debut album.

He said: 'I've probably got four or five albums of material.

'But The X Factor was a crazy atmosphere and I didn't really have time to sit down and write any new ones. I don't know if Simon has heard any of my songs.

'I don't want to tread on any toes but I want as much control over the album's content as possible.'



Making his debut: Matt's first single is available to download now and buy in the shops tomorrow


Matt Cardle Daybreak Interview HQ ITV Daybreak Interview X Factor Winner Matt Cardle



Matt Cardle and Rihanna sing Unfaithful - The X Factor Live Final - itv.com/xfactor



Matt Cardle performs When We Collide - The X Factor Live Final (Full Version)



source: dailymail