James Arthur has revealed that his secret fling with Rita Ora turned him into a wild ‘sex addict’.
The singer, who won The X Factor back in 2012, enjoyed a few “magic” nights with Rita – before she dumped him and left him devastated.
According to The Sun on Sunday, James opens up about his sex addiction in his new autobiography Back To The Boy.
“If I’m honest, I became a bit of a slag after Rita. I was chatting to hundreds of women online or on Whats-App after swapping numbers with them via Twitter, and I started to sleep with so many of them I lost count,” he wrote.
“They were usually the same type — Babestation girls or glamour models. If I saw someone I fancied I’d contact her on social media and tell her blatantly I wanted to have sex.
“It was ridiculously easy. There would be no emotional attachment and it would be just pure sex, and with one or two exceptions that was how it was,” he wrote.
After winning The X Factor, James met up with Rita while on The X Factor tour.
“I was so puzzled that someone like Rita was actually interested in me. I told myself this couldn’t be real. Rita’s made a mistake. She must think I’m someone cool. This is so confusing.
“There was a lot of magic there and it was an amazing night. Rita seemed really, really into me, but I still couldn’t quite believe it. I wondered if she was a very good actress. I was very stoned that night and my paranoia was sky-high.”
“Me and Rita met up a few more times after that and had some more amazing nights. ‘I’m in love with you,’ she told me one night. She said it so sincerely I wanted to believe her, though it seemed insane,” he explained.
However, Rita then “seemed to disappear” and James said he was devastated when he saw pictures of her in the papers with other men.
“I was heartbroken. It hit me really hard,” he added.
“The X Factor tour was a blur in my memory because I was so stoned and drugged up on all my anti-depressants every time I went on stage. I was struggling for survival every day and I didn’t even feel like myself. Under my skin, I was still the same frightened, fearful little boy I’d always been.”
“I had a lot of sexual encounters I can’t even remember, because I was so high on weed. I felt self-conscious about putting on weight, and sometimes I insisted on keeping my T-shirt on during sex, because I felt so fat and disgusting.
“For a long time I tried to kid myself I was only doing what any young guy in my position would do, and I also wondered if my extremely high sex drive had something to do with the medication I was on. It didn’t. The simple fact is I have an addictive personality coupled with a high sex drive made me a sex addict.
“I started bingeing on sex. I became as addicted to sex as I was to weed. I craved sex, I had to have it and I needed it to fill the void and make myself feel better,” he explained.
Thankfully, James’ mental health is back on track, and he managed to stage one of pop’s most spectacular comebacks when Syco re-signed him a year ago.
“During my recovery, I’d worked hard at teaching myself how to stand above my thoughts, to be aware of them, and watchful of them. I began to enjoy the positive benefits of the moment.
“I’ve learned so much about myself and how to deal with my issues and, because of everything I’ve been through, I’m much closer to knowing who I am.”
Back to the Boy by James Arthur is set for release on October 5.
