She may not have met him during her time on The X Factor, but Sam Bailey says her phone call with new boss Simon Cowell was truly "inspirational" - especially as he wants to let her call the shots in her new career.
But that doesn't mean she didn't nearly put the phone down on him when he called!
"I didn't actually believe it was him, I thought it was an impersonator," she said. "I was like, 'Do I call him sir, boss, Simon?'
"He's just so down to earth. He was like, 'Hi darling, you're absolutely wonderful, babe'. I was like, 'Wow, this is Simon Cowell'. I pictured Rory Bremner as I was talking to him.
"He was really, really nice and it was inspirational to talk to him. He said that he'd been watching me, he'd seen something in me and he's got high hopes for me."
More importantly for mum Sam is the fact that Simon has told her he doesn't want her to be bullied into anything she doesn't want to do.
"It wouldn't be a case of rushing [my debut album]. I don't want to do a cheesy album with loads of covers, I want to do something a bit different.
"I've got a few ideas up my sleeve. Simon says he wants my input. He wants me to go in there with a few ideas and [not] just let everyone else make up my mind for me, so I've got my work cut out."
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