Eoghan Quigg was told to ‘play up’ Diana Vickers romance on X Factor (Picture: REX / Instagram)
The X Factor’s most memorable year was arguably 2008, which included Eoghan Quigg and Diana Vickers as two of the series’ shining stars.
As well as Holly Jervis’ iconic audition, it also gave us runners-up JLS, winner Alexandra Burke who casually performed a duet with Beyoncé, and vocal powerhouse Ruth Lorenzo, who ended the show in fifth place.
It’s safe to say the nation was seated every Saturday night to watch the vocalists nail cover versions of everything from Prince’s Purple Rain to Wham’s Last Christmas.
However, it wasn’t just what was happening on stage that was interesting to viewers, behind-the-scenes antics were also intriguing.
Of course, everybody enjoys a good love story and there was some interest around Eoghan, now 31, and Diana, now 32 and whether they were romantically linked.
At the time even Simon Cowell said: ‘They’re just two kids in love.’
Diana and Eoghan were on The X Factor in 2008 (Picture: Ken McKay/REX/Shutterstock)
The pair were often pictured looking close, particularly after the series finale which was watched by an average of 13.2 million viewers.
Now, Eoghan, who finished in third place, insists it was just friendship.
‘They were always looking for romance and I suppose I was young and branded cute so from the get-go it was like “Has he got a girlfriend? Is he seeing anyone?” I wasn’t, I was just kind of enjoying the X Factor,’ he told Metro.co.uk.
‘Diana was like a best friend on the show.
Diana and Eoghan were ‘best friends’ (Picture: Ken McKay/REX/Shutterstock)
‘We just kind of clicked because we were the same age – I was 16 and she was 17 and we got each other.
‘That’s how we came close because we could relate to each other. I think at the time, the press wanted something to be there that wasn’t. We were told “Maybe you should play on it” and stuff.
‘But we genuinely were just buddies going through a crazy experience.’
Eoghan alleged that The X Factor ideally wanted to see a romance.
‘I could see that was the angle that some people might have wanted us to take but we kind of just laughed them off. We did our own thing and that was really it,’ he explained.
Eoghan was grateful to have a friend throughout the crazy experience (Picture: Ken McKay/REX/Shutterstock)
The pair kept their relationship platonic, and Euoghan has reflected on the fond memories he has of Diana.
‘She was a lovely girl. She was my best friend.’
He particularly appreciated having her around, as he’d moved away from his family home in Ireland’s Dungiven to London, in order to star on the ITV show: ‘I packed two suitcases and moved my life, as did Diana as she came down from the North. We kind of just clicked. We were good buddies. It was all a bit of fun.’
Although Eoghan and Diana don’t see each other, social media allows them to know what’s going on in each other’s lives.
Eoghan hasn’t seen Diana in years (Picture: Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)
‘I haven’t seen Diana in years but we follow each other on socials,’ he shared.
‘We give each other the odd like and comment, but it’s a completely different time in our life. You go your own way.
‘If I ever bumped into her or spotted her out I’d be straight over, and get a coffee with her to reminisce with her about old times – as I would with any of the contestants.’
Eoghan is now a dad and we feel old (Picture: Instagram/Eoghan Quigg)
Now Eoghan is a dad-of-four, and alongside partner Amy Campbell he creates content for a family YouTube channel. The couple document all aspects of their family life for viewers. He is also happily still singing at weddings and corporate events.
Diana, who took fourth place on X Factor is also still singing and acting, as well as hosting her own podcast called Ki & Dee: The Podcast, which she hosts alongside housemate Chiara Hunter. The duo have fun chats, answer agony aunt dilemmas, and write witty songs for their guests, which have included Dawn O’Porter and Cheryl Hole.
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They were just ‘buddies’.