Louisa Johnson: I’ve stopped trying to be a role model

The X Factor winner said she realised it was important to “be myself”
“It’s important to be myself”: X Factor winner Louisa Johnson
Carla Speight/Getty
Emma Powell16 March 2018
The Weekender

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Louisa Johnson says that three years after winning The X Factor she has finally stopped trying to be a role model.

The star, 20, struggled to deal with trolls after becoming the show’s youngest winner in 2015. But she says she is happier now she has found her sound and realised it was important to “be myself”.

Johnson, who releases her new single YES today, said: “This is my ideal song. Everything feels like it’s finally coming together.

“It feels a lot more me and I’ve changed my sound in a way that I wanted to make a really big pop song that made me feel really good. I’m so attached to it because I’ve had so much involvement.”

Making waves: Louisa Johnson is excited to release her pop banger

YES was composed by Streatham songwriter Camille Purcell, who has crafted hits for Little Mix, The Saturdays and Jessie J. The pair came up with the ideas for the song over a long dinner.

Johnson said: “The way we did the song was, ‘OK, we’re going to go for dinner, get really drunk and then we’ll talk about what we want to sing about’. It was a very successful dinner.”

The star was 17 when she triumphed in the X Factor, mentored by Rita Ora. Her debut single, Forever Young, reached number nine in the charts.

She said: “At first I tried to be a role model. I thought I needed to act a certain way but it just didn’t work. I just thought, I’m at a time of my life where it’s important to be myself.

Feeling confident: Louisa Johnson says she has finally put out her sound
Dave Benett

“I don’t think I should focus on being a role model and have [young fans] look up to me. Nobody is perfect.

“You can have an ideal role model but they’ll never be ideal. It’s a big statement to make.”

She has never hesitated to speak her mind — but feels she is only now being taken seriously. She said: “I’m a very opinionated person so if I don’t like something I’ll say.

“Because you are young you worry, not that people don’t take notice, but that you won’t get taken seriously as much. But now I’ve released songs people trust me a bit more.”

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