X Factor duo Luke and Joel O’Dea almost didn’t make it to their first audition because Joel “couldn’t be bothered getting up”. Luckily older brother Luke “very assertively” got him out of bed because the siblings managed to rock their way right into the top five.
“The night before [the audition],”Joel says, “I was out and Luke rang me and he said, ‘We are either going to the audition and I am staying home or we are not doing it and I am coming out to party with you’. And I was like, ‘No we are going to go — we will do it’.”
However, Joel only got home at 6am and decided to hit the sack instead of rock the mic. “Luke literally grabbed me out of bed and said the only reason I am doing this is because you made me stay home last night,” Joel says with a laugh. “It’s pretty weird to think it all stemmed from this.”
The inseparable siblings had to give up their day jobs — Luke worked as a physiotherapist and Joel as a youth worker — in order to commit to X Factor.
“We didn’t know if we were going to be gone for two weeks or nine weeks, so the [employers] said, ‘We have to ask you to resign’,” Luke says.
In fact, that was not the only thing Luke had to put on hold — his date to wed his childhood sweetheart had to be postponed.
“I was actually going to get married next weekend,” Luke says. “We had to cancel the plans but we will get married soon.”
The lovebirds met at Luke’s first gig when he was 14 years old. “We haven’t been together for that long,” he says. “We were friends for a long time until I was 19.”
Joel on the other hand is still single but admits his newfound fame is helping in the love department.
“I have had a few friend requests on Facebook,” he says modestly. “And a few marriage proposals!”
So could a joint wedding be on the cards?
“I don’t think Joel is too keen to marry these people that have proposed to him,” Luke jokes.
One thing is for sure, as this rocking duo plans to “not stop until we make our dream a reality”, Joel won’t be allowed to enjoy those late lie-ins.
Related video: UK X Factor winners, where are they now?
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