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Daily Mirror
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James Brinsford

James Arthur 'forgives mum' for troubled childhood in foster care as angry teen

James Arthur has opened up about his troubled childhood, in which he was placed in foster care after his family fell apart, which led to a challenging anger issue.

The 33-year-old singer won The X Factor in 2012 and has a rollercoaster career since then and it would seem that he has a frenetic journey for much of his life.

The Middlesbrough born entertainer has told how his parents divorced when he was young and how he was placed in foster care after his mother struggled as a single parent to four children.

Speaking to former professional boxer Tony Bellew, for his BBC podcast - Tony Bellew is Angry - James recalled how his teenage years were blighted by his anger issues, which made him a difficult character to handle during this formative time.

James Arthur said he used to "resent" his family over his teenage years (Getty Images)
James Arthur has admitted that he was a challenging teenager (Getty Images for The National Lo)

He has said that time has healed the feelings he had about his mum and his family at that time, in which he was full of "resentment" as to how his personality was handled.

When asked whether anger had been a prominent part of his life, James replied: "Yeah, it has. I think we're quite similar in that sense, I think of myself as someone who's, and people around me have told me that, I'm a very generous person.

"I'm kind, I’m giving, to the point where I'm somewhat easy to take advantage of, that’s a blessing and a curse for me. I'll be popular with people but I reckon I'm the type of guy that people will look at and go 'maybe I can get away with this, with this guy.'

"And when that kindness has been taken advantage of, that's when I really blow."

James admitted that he developed trust issues as a teenager, which has carried on into his adult years.

The singer continued: "That's when I get very angry and I don't, like yourself, give second chances. I don't trust people and I think it just comes from, when I was a kid, I found myself in foster care."

James opened up about this time: "My family fell apart when I was a young lad, around my formative years.

"I absolutely adore my mum and when I look back I don't have any blame or ill feeling towards her. She had four kids, she'd been through a divorce and it just happened to be that I was a little s**t at school and getting in fights.

"I reckon I was probably too difficult to deal with at one point."

James Arthur performing at the Isle of Wight Festival in September (REX/Shutterstock)

James reckons one of the reasons for this was the lack of male input into his life.

He continued: "I didn't have a male role model around so I didn't have anyone really showing me how to be a man or how to behave, I suppose.

"I found myself in foster care and it's a rough place to be, you're sort of looking over your shoulder, at the juveniles coming in and out of there. It's sort of like the new lad shows up and you have to get out on the grass and prove yourself."

James said that at 13 and 14, he was trying to prove himself in a very hostile atmosphere of the care system in which he was resentful and blamed his mum for the situation he was in but now that he is an adult, he has managed to get a different perspective on that time of his life.

He concluded: "I blamed them both but part of me was sort of willing to do it, I was like, whatever, just stick me in there, I don't want to be around any of you anyway, it was that sort of attitude."

* Tony Bellew Is Angry on BBC Sounds and can be found HERE.

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