James Arthur has been prohibited from gambling apps after winning “Crazy Money” from betting.
The 32-year-old singer enjoyed a number of “massive wins” from betting on football results, which led to a major bookmaker removing his account from their site and others that they own.
He revealed: “Last year I got a couple of massive wins on football accumulators on a couple of different apps crazy money I won.
“I predicted five results or something like that. I didn’t have a gambling problem — a lot of football fans will bet on the football on Saturday whether they are into gambling or not.
“I got banned because I won so much money, they were like, ‘We basically don’t want you on this app.’ I got kicked off.’ ”
But the ‘Say You Won’t Let Go’ hitmaker thinks it has been a “blessing” because it’s stopped him from pursuing his gambling habit any further.
He added to the Metro newspaper’s Guilty Pleasures column: “So I can’t go on any of the apps any more because I won so much money. It was kind of a blessing, it forced me not to gamble. I deleted all the apps.”
Meanwhile, James has seen his 2016 track ‘Train Wreck’ enjoy a recent surge in popularity and he thinks the lyrics to the song, which he wrote at a professional low point, has resonated with those who have found this year challenging.
He said: “It was before ‘Say You Won’t Let Go’. I’d lost the faith of the public, I’d gone off the rails, lost record deals, scandals and all that I was making that album for a desperate attempt to stay in the game.
“Lyrically ‘Train Wreck’ was a true reflection of where I was at in my life. It’s connecting with people and where we are all at. The cream will rise to the top if it’s a good song.”