Exclusive interview:
Former Bilton schoolboy is confident of X Factor success

IT'S going to be tough, but we're confident.

Those were the words of X Factor starlet Joe Conaboy in his first interview since making it to the live shows of the hugely popular TV talent show as one part of boyband Kingsland Road.

The former Bilton School and Bawnmore Infant School pupil - who is going by the name of Connor - took time out of preparations for Saturday night's show to speak to The Observer about his rise to relative fame.

"I've gone from being in Rugby, moving to East London to spending my days in a TV studio. We've got security guards, our own chef, paparazzi outside the house, it's mental, but we're loving it.

"We've already met and worked with some amazing people in the industry, people I never thought we'd ever meet. Gary Barlow is a legend of the whole boyband thing and to work with him day in day out is amazing.

"This is where we want to be, we don't want it to end. But if it does Kingsland Road will carry on. We're good friends, like brothers almost. This is a huge break for us and we intend to make the most of it whatever happens.

"It's going to be tough because everyone is so talented. But we've very confident."

Six years ago the 19-year-old from Cawston starred in Oliver at Rugby Theatre, going on to play a part in the 60th anniversary show Chess in 2009.

In 2010 he had a starring role in Rugby Youth Theatre's production of How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying as J. Pierrepont Finch - a role Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe played on Broadway a year later.

He is also a graduate from Hayley Impact Dance School.

After leaving Bilton School aged 16 he went to performing arts college in London and now finds himself on one of the biggest shows on TV.

"I was in a few things at school, but I was mainly sporty playing for Bilton Ajax and rugby at district level," Connor told us.

"Rugby Theatre really sparked my love for performing; there's no better buzz than getting an applause at the end of a performance."

It has been a long road for Connor and five-piece boyband Kingsland Road - named after the location of the flat they all share in East London.

They have made it through several auditions and even a trip to LA where they managed to convince show judge and mentor Gary Barlow to pick them as one of his three bands.

And the boys are hoping they can follow in the footsteps of One Direction who despite not winning the 2010 series have gone on to enjoy global success, selling an estimated 19million singles and 10million albums.

"We've been gigging for a while, but now our lives changed massively.

"X Factor is the only way that can give you such a massive platform. It's just huge, now we're at the centre of it it's even bigger than we thought.

"It's just mind-boggling, I'm waiting for someone to pinch me and I wake up!

"If we could get even the smallest amount of success One Direction have had would be just mental.

"They are the biggest boyband in the world at the moment, they made boybands cool again and are our inspiration, but we're also learning from someone in Gary Barlow who's been there too so we're in a great place."

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