Saara Aalto was the first person Matt Terry bonded with on ‘The X Factor’.
The 23-year-old singer found it tough going up against the Finnish beauty in the final round of the competition on Sunday (11.12.16) night because they’ve been close friends and leant on each other for support since the bootcamp round of the show.
Speaking exclusively to BANG Showbiz, he said: "At bootcamp we were sat together on the coach and who knew we’d go all the way through together and be in the finals together. I always say that we were supposed to meet that day.
"It was really hard to go up against her because we really cared for each other and we just wanted each other to succeed and do well."
Although she didn’t manage to lift the winners’ trophy, Matt is convinced his competitor will still go on to carve out an impressive singing career in the UK in the near future.
He explained: "Saara is amazing. Her career is going to fly. She was so happy for me. She was the first person I met on ‘X Factor’ and I was the first person she met."
His impressive vocals, good looks and charming nature won over the public and lead him to success but Matt doesn’t think he’d have succeeded without his mentor Nicole Scherzinger and his vocal coach because they’ve "formed" him into the artist he is now.
He said: "Nicole and my vocal coach Ian are just my inspiration. They have taught me everything I need to know. They really have formed me into the artist that I am so I will be forever grateful and I love them. I’ll 100 per cent stay in contact with Nicole, I’ve already been texting her. She’s just amazing, she calls herself my big sis. I’m so happy I made her proud. She’s worked extremely hard on me."