X FACTOR legends The MacDonald Brothers revealed they turned down Britain’s Got Talent – as they didn’t want to be Simon Cowell’s whipping boys again.
Brothers Craig and Brian from Prestwick, Ayrshire, shot to fame in 2006 when they made it to the semi-final of the ITV talent show that was won by Leona Lewis.
The MacDonald Brothers – who have turned down BGT[/caption]
The pair shot to fame during the 2006 X Factor[/caption]
But they received regular tongue lashings from head judge Cowell who branded the pair “rubbish”.
And that’s why they said “no” when ITV offered a return to the small screen, saying: “We’re nearly 40 now and we just didn’t want to be Simon’s whipping boys all over again.”
But despite virtually disappearing from public view, the pair used their X Factor humiliation to set them up for life through sound management advice and shrewd investments.
The brothers ploughed the small fortune they made from the live spin-off tour from the TV series, along with a top 20 UK album, into buying their own homes outright.
They also grew a property empire, at one point owning up to a dozen rental flats between them, while their love of a dram saw them invest in over 800 bottles of rare, collectable whiskies and several casks too.
Craig, 39, says: “Looking back at the footage from X Factor we were so naive at the time as we were just 19 and 20.
“We had been gigging since we were 13 and thought we were doing alright then all of a sudden Simon was hammering us every week – we became his punchbags.
“He would say before each show, ‘Ready for a fight boys?’ And we’d just grin and bear it but inwardly we were thinking, ‘Can’t you just be nice to us for once?’”
Brian, 38, adds: “It was hard on our parents Margaret and Jim. They would come down to the show and Simon would say ,‘Hello Mrs MacDonald’ and mum would just turn her head and blank him.
“A lot of what he said was true. We were the weaker singers on the show at that stage and did have to raise our game.
“But we were a folk duo, playing accordion, fiddle, piano, guitars and the Irish whistle, then on X-Factor we had to become two young guys singing karaoke songs, doing Barry Manilow and ABBA week or whatever.
“So getting a kicking every show was hard because Simon just made us more nervous.”
The MacDonald Brothers – who were coached by Louis Walsh – made it to the last four of the show with forgotten Ben Mills in third place, and future Dancing On Ice champ Ray Quinn in second.
They finally got their marching orders after a cover of the Bay City Rollers 70s chart-topper Shang-A-Lang.
But after Walsh refused to manage them afterwards, they signed with a Scots indie label called The Music Kitchen that was ironically co-managed by former Rollers pin-up Stuart ‘Woody’ Wood.
Brian says: “Stuart and his business partner Gordon Campbell made our careers.
“They produced our first album, that got to No1 in Scotland outselling The Proclaimers, but it also reached No 18 in the UK charts.
“Gordon and Stuart then told us that instead of blowing the money we would earn from the album and the X Factor tour on cars, we should invest it in property.
“The funny thing is we were never interested in flashy cars anyway so the first thing we did after X Factor was buy our houses in Prestwick.
“I got a nice four bedroom home that I still live in today and Craig bought one just around the corner.”
LOUIS DIDN’T SIGN US BUT HE MADE US A FORTUNE
LOUIS Walsh refused to sign The MacDonald Brothers after mentoring them – but the Scots reveal he helped set them up financially with money-spinning tours.
The Irish manager gave Craig and Brian the regular support slot for his band Westlife for three years after the ITV talent series.
And the boys admit that helped them coin it in as other warm up acts normally have to pay for the privilege.
Craig says: “Louis got in touch after the show and asked if we would like to tour with Westlife – of course we did.
“Those were massive tours, performing in front of 10,000 people a night. It was an amazing platform for us.”
Brian adds: “We didn’t even have to do a ‘buy on’ for the tour like other support acts. Instead all we had to pay out was like £60 for a sound guy. It was incredible and we did that for three years.”
And while Louis, 72, has recently been portrayed as a villain in the Sky documentary Boyzone: No Matter What, the Scots duo have nothing but praise for their former mentor.
Brian says: “When it was my birthday during X Factor he’d arranged a big meal for 20 in a restaurant in the middle of London and paid for it all too.
“He also came around to the contestants’ house and would check how we were getting on – he was the only judge to do that.”
Craig adds: “He gave us his phone number and told us we could call him at any time.
“The other acts, who were being mentored by Simon Cowell and Sharon Osbourne, never had their personal phone numbers – they could only get in touch with them by contacting their offices in Los Angeles.”
Brian says: “Louis was amazing to us and for that we’ll always be grateful.”
Craig adds: “We also built up quite a nice property portfolio, which was a great fallback especially when Covid hit and we couldn’t work as musicians for two years.
“But that left us still fairly comfortable as we had all the flats rented out – and that was all down to listening to advice that was given to us nearly 20 years ago.”
The brothers may not have been on the box for years, but they have enjoyed life on the ocean wave, working the lucrative cruise ship circuit around the world.
Brian says: “Most of the time it’s six star cruises and we board as passengers. So we only do two 45 minute spots a week and the rest of your time is our own.”
Craig adds: “When we do Crystal Cruises or Silver Sea we get our own suite. The last one was to Columbia and Peru, but we’ve been absolutely everywhere over the last 15 years on the circuit.”
That also allowed the duo to build up an extensive collection of whiskies.
Brian explains: “The eye-opener for us was our grandpa’s friend had bought a bottle of whisky at a car boot sale for £45 and 10 years later sold it for over a grand.
“That’s when we realised there is money to be made. But we also genuinely developed a real appreciation of whisky over the years – and we’re very fond of drinking it too.”
The MacDonald Brothers, as they are today, with some of their collector item whiskies.[/caption]
Craig adds: “I think we have around 400 bottles each.
“Going on cruise trips and through airports also gives you a chance to buy limited edition bottles that have become collectors’ items over time.
“We also started performing on distillery tours, and have done about 80 of those so far. That gave us a chance to invest in casks too.”
The MacDonald Brothers have started to scale back their cruise commitments as Craig has a three year old daughter Ellie with vet supplies wife Jen, 35, while Craig lives at home with additional needs support worker missus Rachael, 37.
Instead the pair are now building up their fanbase back at home, touring Scotland from now until April.
Craig says: “What surprised us was that after X Factor we sold out two nights at a home coming gig at Ayr’s Gaiety Theatre – and we’ve just done the same again despite not gigging at home for years.”
Brian adds: “The best reaction we get is girls, who were fans, will drag their husbands or boyfriends along and see a show they were not expecting as we get the accordion and fiddle out and do the harmonies and also stuff like Simon and Garfunkel.”
Craig continues: “But I guess our biggest battle was always trying to change people’s perception from those two lads who were always getting hammered by Simon Cowell.
“Yes, X Factor did give us a perfect platform to have a career in music, but there was no way we were going back before Simon to get a kicking again.”
*The MacDonald Brothers are playing dates across Scotland until April 10. For more information visit: themacdonaldbros.co.uk
