 During his initial audition , Johnston claimed that he was bullied and <unk> from the age of six because of his singing . When asked how he dealt with the issue , he stated " I carry on singing . " There were claims in the Daily Mail , a UK @-@ based tabloid newspaper , that the programme 's producers had deliberately <unk> the extent of Johnston 's bullying as a " <unk> story " , suggesting that sympathy rather than his singing got him many of the votes . However , in The Times , Johnston 's success story was described as " the stuff of <unk> " , as he was successful despite having been raised in " poverty " . Johnston said he did not talk about being bullied because he was told to do so by producers , but " because I believed it would help people who were going through what I had gone through be stronger " . Johnston has subsequently visited schools and elsewhere to help other victims of bullying . He said " I want to use my experience of <unk> to help other kids " . 
