Sam, 38, won The X Factor in 2013, but she confessed that mentor Sharon Osbourne said her career would take off once she was OUT of the prize contract.
Speaking to the Mirror, the former prison warden revealed: “Sharon said, ‘The sooner you are out of the record deal the better because you’ll get to do what you want to do’.
“There were lots of work opportunities when I was with Syco but the label wouldn’t let me take them. They didn’t want me to be seen opening a school or doing something for this charity or that charity, or going to a Tesco store to open their meat department.”
Mum-of-three Sam said she grew bored towards the end of her time with Syco – because she just wanted to be working.
She continued: “I didn’t want to be sitting on my a*** waiting for Simon to say, ‘Right, you are in the studio next month’. I like to be busy.”
Sam got her wish when she and Simon stopped working together, and has been busy ever since.
Later this month Sam will perform a one-off show, Sam Bailey: Live in the West End, and she can’t wait.
“It was nice to set myself free from Simon,” she added. “The next thing I knew I was working loads.”