Olympic Gymnast Louis Smith Was X Factor Hopeful

Olympic bronze medal-winning gymnast Louis Smith is a former contestant on The X Factor who made it to the fourth round of the contest.

But the 22-year-old sportsman has told the Radio Times that his attempt to find pop stardom was only for a laugh really - and that his eye was always on the main prize of Olympic glory.

"It was a bit of fun," he told the magazine. "I had to make a decision when I was eight and got offered a scholarship in singing either to do that full time or carry on with gym. I chose gym."

Louis - along with team mates Max Whitlock, Daniel Purvis, Sam Oldham and Kristian Thomas - earned Great Britain's first Olympic medal in men's team gymnastics for more than a century yesterday.

And fellow Team GB gymnast Beth Tweddle revealed that Louis hadn't given up singing entirely.

She said: "He likes to be the centre of attention. In the gym, you'll be training and suddenly he'll break into song.

"If I broke into song, people would wonder what was wrong with me, but that's Louis."

We reported yesterday that the judges are claimed to have been told their categories for this year.

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