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IT SEEMS LIKE a lifetime since Mary Byrne was on The X Factor alongside One Direction, Cher Lloyd and Matt Cardle. 

After all this time, there’s no denying that we still have some serious appreciation for aul Mary - the Ballyfermot Tesco worker who managed to impress Katy Perry and Simon Cowell. 

It has been eight years since her X Factor audition, and so much has changed for both Mary and her fellow X Factor contestants during this last decade.

One Direction are no more, some of them even have their own kids and Cher Lloyd is immortalised forever in that “I’m gonna sing Cher Lloyd by Cher Lloyd” video where the mam bursts into the bedroom and asks her daughters why they don’t know how to flush a toilet. 

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This week Mary Byrne appeared on Loose Women to talk about her life after taking part in The X Factor.

Showcasing her new figure and blonde hair, the Ballyfermot woman told the rest of the panel that she’s still very good friends with Wagner Carrilho. Since the topic came up, the rest of the women were very curious about whether or not Mary’s still in touch with the One Direction lads, considering that they’re some of the biggest celebrities in the world now. 

Apparently, Harry’s the one who cares the most about Mary Byrne these days. 

I’m still in contact with Harry sometimes, now I don’t get an awful lot of him. He’s become very big. 

However, Mary’s very happy for the lads and she said that she knew from the very start that they’d be really successful. 

The lads worked hard to get where they are. They may not have been the best singers in the world at the time, but they are now. They’ve done well. I did say to them, “Yous are going to be huge!” 

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Mary also said that she still watches her X Factor clips whenever she’s feeling down.

The singer says that it helps immensely with her depression. 

When I feel doubtful in myself, when work is not coming in and when I feel worried – this business, you don’t get a wage every week – my brother always says “If you ever doubt yourself, why don’t you watch your first audition? And I guarantee you, if you hear what those judges said to you, it’ll give you a lift.” So I do, it gives me a boost. 

It’s not surprising. The celebrity judges on X Factor were amazed by Mary Byrne. Can you imagine Katy Perry meeting a Tesco checkout worker and calling them “so brave”? Probably not, but it once happened. 

And while we’re on the topic of Tesco, yes, Mary still shops there. The Loose Women panel asked if she gets a discount in Tesco and she raised her fist and called it “outrageous”, but says that she still goes there because she likes visiting her friends. 

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