Olly Murs proud of 15-year X Factor anniversary

Olly Murs said he was looking forward to going back on tour to mark 15 years since his rise to fame on The X Factor.

The singer has announced a 16-date UK and Ireland arena tour for next year after fans contacted him on social media to ask how he would be celebrating the anniversary.

"The changes from working in a call centre to this have just been mind-blowing and I really want to celebrate that," he told BBC Essex.

Murs will be joined by his special guests, boyband Blue, on tour in April and May.

He admitted he had not realised it had been 15 years since he auditioned for the ITV singing competition.

"I'm really proud of that and it got me quite emotional, actually," he said.

"I was thinking about everything that has happened from The X Factor days to now, all the gigs I've done – it's just been amazing."

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During the tour, he and his special guests will perform at venues including The O2 in London and Liverpool's M&S Bank Arena.

Although he will not be performing in Essex, where he hails from, he said he would love to put on a homecoming gig at Colchester United's stadium in the future.

Murs said it would be a "special moment" to go on tour with Blue, whose album he bought when he was a 17-year-old college student.

"I was a big fan of Blue at the time and they were a real reason why I got into music," he recalled.

"They're great fun. They're literally like 100mph so it's probably going to bring out the worst in me a little bit, and I'm quite excited about it."

Tickets for the tour go on sale at 10:00 BST on Friday.

Murs is due to appear on the BBC's Who Do You Think You Are? next week.

The 40-year-old singer from Witham appeared on the sixth series of The X Factor in 2009, finishing second to Joe McElderry.

He released his first album the following year.

In 2011, he became the co-presenter of The Xtra Factor, a spin-off to the main series, alongside Caroline Flack.

Together, the pair went on to present The X Factor's 12th series in 2015.

He married his partner Amelia Tank on Osea Island, Essex, in 2023.

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