'X Factor UK' Winner Steve Brookstein Goes On Twitter Rant Over 'Greatest Hits' Snub

Credit: ITV

Steve Brookstein was the first act to ever win The X Factor, but you won't find him on the show's upcoming Greatest Hits album.

After the tracklist was announced in an official press release, the singer discovered he was nowhere to be found on the two-disc compilation, despite claiming the show's first No. 1 single with his cover of the Phil Collins song, "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)." His debut album, the covers compilation Heart and Soul, subsequently reached No. 1 as well.

"I've not made the X Factor Greatest Hits Album," Brookstein wrote on his Twitter account. "Thanks for the 1st ever X Factor No1 and the 6 million votes. Just wasn't enough I guess."

Brookstein rose to fame in 2004, winning the first season of the talent competition under the mentorship of Simon Cowell. However, in subsequent years the singer fell out with Cowell, who dropped him from Syco a mere eight months after the grand final. Brookstein would go on to criticize the show and Cowell, in particular, stating that the music mogul dropped him from the label because he refused to record a second album of cover songs. He also added that Cowell cared little about Brookstein following his win, showing far more interest in runners-up, G4.

"If series 1 and 2 weren’t such good tv there wouldn’t have been a 3. Hats off to G4, Andy Abraham and Journey South also X-cluded," he wrote. "9th place Aiden Grimshaw’s hit 'is this love' made the x factor greatest hits album. Reached 35 in the charts. Cowell is not bitter then."

Brookstein had a hard enough time on The X Factor. Other than his difficulties with Cowell (his Twitter bio cryptically states "fell out with Simon Cowell. The truth will come out one day."), Brookstein famously slipped up the lyrics of his finale performance. This prompted an infamous outburst from judge Sharon Osbourne, who lashed out at Brookstein for what she perceived to be his false humility throughout the series, declaring him to be "full of crap" and "an average singer" who wasn't nearly as talented as he seemed to think he was. She would add that "the public should know he's a fake."

The singer rebounded and, perhaps boosted by the scathing criticism, won the competition in a landslide.

Of his Greatest Hits snub, Brookstein kept things sarcastic: "I’m 45 soon. For my birthday I would really like to be on a compilation album that includes Lucy Spraggon and One Direction."

As the Twitter rant continued, the singer would eventually address accusations of bitterness on his part: "Hold on, I have a number one single that Cowell refuses to put on a greatest hits album and that makes me the bitter one? Ok." Brookstein later added, "I wasn’t complaining and I wasn’t angry. I think it’s amusing."

Bringing the rant to a close, Brookstein clarifies, "I’m angry with dodgy bankers and energy prices. If being excluded from an album with One Direction makes you angry you are also nuts."

Via: Digital Spy / Metro