Singer Matt Gresham wowed The Voice coaches this week during his Blind Audition, but it wasn’t the first time he had stepped on stage of a reality TV show.
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Way back in 2013, Matt was a contestant on The X Factor before sensationally walking away to pursue his music career independently.
Despite becoming disenchanted with the now defunct reality show, Matt has appeared enthusiastic about being back on screens to take part on The Voice.
Speaking to New Idea, he explains why he feels the experience is so different this time around and admits his return to a reality show could seem “contradictory”.
“With The X Factor, the contracts were much more strict,” he explains.
“As a creative, they don’t give you much freedom when it comes to artistic direction which is the whole purpose of being in the arts. And they don’t really tell until you’re at the crunching point, where you have to make a choice.”
Matt says at first, the show seemed to only have positive things going for it but then the fine print quickly became apparent.
“When you step into the show, you’re like, ‘this is exciting, flashing lights!’ But when you get far, they’re like, ‘Alright you’re going to have to be bit like this.’ And then you go, ‘Wait a minute, that’s not who I am.’
“So that’s the point where I left. I was like, ‘Wait a minute I don’t want to get painted into something that I’m not.’ So then I bailed and did my own thing and signed to a label in Europe for three or four years.”
After Matt quit the show, where current The Voice coach Guy Sebastian was a judge at the time, eliminated contestant Dami Im was brought back to replace him. Dami went on to take out the competition.
Now, Matt is back on The Voice following a harrowing mental health battle.
“I had a year off and then The Voice sounded like a good idea because from the get go, they were really like, ‘We just want to capture what you’re about and put it on Channel Nine’,” he says.
“I was like, ‘Well, let’s do it!’ A lot more freedom and the music team are really talented and get where I am musically. And yeah, it’s much more personal. Which in my opinion music has to be personal otherwise it’s just weird.”
The Voice continues Sunday 7pm on Channel Nine.
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