Michael Bublé has admitted that he is still in touch with former X Factor winner, Leon Jackson and says life has been hard for him since the show.

Leon managed to score a UK number one with his debut single, ‘When You Believe’. However low ticket sales led to the axe of many of his live shows and he was subsequently dropped by his record label, Sony.

“A great singer does not always equate to being a star. You’ve got to work really hard at it,” Bublé told the Daily Star.

“I’m still in touch with Leon and it’s been tough for him since leaving the show.”

Bublé will performonce more on X Factor this Sunday night.

X Factor 2007winner, Leon Jackson, has admitted he is backing fellow Scot, Rikki Loney in this years series. leon says that he remembers Rikki from last year’s bootcamp stage.

Jackson told Scotland’s Daily Record, “I’ve always thought he had a good voice, a good modern image and a nice tone to his voice.

“I don’t think he has anything to worry about right now and I’d like to see him stay in for as long as possible and progress.

“The support Scotland can give him can help him. It’s good to have the Scottish vote because we are patriotic and like to see people doing well.

Leon Jackson has revealed plans to move away from his jazz type music and try a more singer songwriter approach.

The former X Factor winner told the Daily Record that he is happy to be working with “amazing” musicians, including Paolo Nutini co-writer Jim Duguid.

Jackson said: “I’ve been developing myself as a musician. I’m keen to show the transition and let everyone see that this is Leon Jackson now.

“I am switching genres a bit and moving from old-fashioned jazz to the singer-songwriter I love.”

He added: “I love to sing in a style that’s raw and bare. When I create a song on the guitar, it is honest and real.

“I wasn’t able to show these songs after winning X Factor because they were not well enough known.”

Speculation is rife that Leon Jackson is about to cancel his UK tour after he drops out of two shows in Manchester and Blackburn.

The former X Factor winner was supposed to kick off his 16-date ‘Right Now’ tour at Blackburn’s King Georges Hall on May 5, but the gig has now been cancelled.

The second show at Manchester Apollo on May 13 has also been cancelled, and Ticketmaster is no longer offering tickets to any more of Leon’s shows.

Jackson was dropped by his record label last month and heard about the company’s decision through the newspapers. This recent news must have come as a blow to the young Scot.

Following the news that former X Factor winner Leon Jackson has been dropped by his record label Sony, New magazine is reporting that his mentor on the show, Dannii Minogue, “has been in touch to offer support and career advice”.

Leon said of Dannii, “I adore her. She’s so nice and caring” while Danni said, “I care about these kids. Being a mentor shouldn’t just stop when the show ends…

“I’ll do all I can to help.”

Rhydian Roberts – who lost out on the title of winner to Leon – told the magazine that Leon was “a gent” and added that he was “convinced” that Jackson “would do well in the future”.

Today is our lucky day! Normally we only hear from X Factor’s first winner Steve Brookstein once a year (around the time of the X Factor launch coincidentally) but he has saw fit to crawl out from under his rock this week to defend poor old Leon Jackson.

Leon was unceremoniously dumped by his record label this week and they didn’t even do him the favour of phoning to tell him. No, sad old Leon had to read the news in The Sun. Of course Steve Brookstein went through a similar ordeal back in 2005 so he decided to write in support of Leon on his own personal blog.

Brookstein blustered: “If they cared anything about Leon they would have announced his departure after his tour and not before it, they would have kept his fans informed, his website up-to-date, and not put comments from Simon into the press saying: ‘[He's a] nice guy but not gonna set the world on fire, Rhydian should have won’.”

He added: “It reminds me of his ‘G4 were the real winners!’ I’m surprised he allows the public to vote when they’ve only got it right once in four years. When they spent their money deciding Leona Lewis had more ‘X’ than the ice skater Ray Quinn. Phew, tough choice.”

Now it’s not that I disagree with Steve per se, but everything he says these days just comes across as sour grapes and he always did have a mammoth chip on his shoulder. I therefore find it hard to take him seriously and if he really cared about his music and not about securing column inches, he would get on with singing instead of bitching. It really is getting tiresome now!

Rhydian Roberts has come out in support of his former X Factor star Leon Jackson who was dropped by his record company last week.

“Leon is a great guy. I wish him well and I’m sure he’ll do fine in the future,” Roberts told the Daily Record.

“People are always trying to see if there is any conflict between us or whether we are still in competition. There probably was competition in The X Factor because that’s what it was all about. But Leon is a gent and he won fair and square.

“It was a real shame he was dropped and I feel for him. But I don’t think he needs to worry. He’ll always have work as a singer.”

Former X Factor winner Leon Jackson has admitted that he found out he had been dropped by his record label when the story was printed in a newspaper this week.

Leon had a one album deal with Sony and obviously hoped he would continue to make more with the company. However an insider leaked the news that he had been dropped to The Sun earlier this week.

Speaking to the Daily Record Jackson said: “The label never told me I had been dropped. I never heard it directly from anyone.

“Word filtered through the management about the likelihood of it happening but I was never told a date. No one at the label ever told me. The first time I knew was yesterday in the paper.”

However Leon seems to have taken the news better than previous winners who faced the same news (read Steve Brookstein) and has been quite gracious about the decision.

“I’m happy and not at all bitter. I think, in fact, this could be a blessing in disguise,” he said. “It’s evident that I wasn’t Simon Cowell’s favourite choice to win X Factor.”

Leon admits that he faced an uphill struggle to establish himself as an artist and failed to get the backing and promotion from his label which Leona lewis recived the year before.

“Leona was given a real push and even went to the States for massive promotion. I had a few TV adverts pushing the album,” he admitted.

“My last major promotion was in 2008 for Children In Need. There were very few gigs to promote the record.”

Former X Factor winner Leon Jackson has been dropped by his record label after only one album.

Leon released his debut album last autumn and went on to sell only 130,000 copies. In contrast the series runner up Rhydian Roberts sold a whopping 500,000 copies of his classical record.

A source close to Simon Cowell told The Sun: “He thought the most talented person should have won. That was never Leon and what has happened since has proved him right. Leon’s a good lad, but he’s definitely not set the world alight.”

Leon said: “I had a great year and learned so much recording and releasing my album. Every artist knows these things can go either way.

“I’m really looking forward to my tour and doing more writing.”

Former X factor winner, Leon Jackson has admitted that he is finding it hard to keep up with other winners, Alexandra Burke and Leona Lewis but blames their wider vocal range and sense of style for the chasm between them.

Leon, this year, became the first ever X Factor winner to miss out on the number one spot with their debut album whilst Alexandra Burke broke all sorts of British and European records after her Christmas single exceeded all expectations.

“Women vocalists have an amazing voice range. They can reach really high notes and often they have a strong diva-like image,” Jackson told the Daily Record. “Both Leona and Alex have really big voices. There’s no doubting they can nail songs that us guys can’t. I think that gives them a certain edge.

“Females always generate attention from the way they look, too. They are always changing their hair and some of their outfits can be really daring – it can be really hard to compete.”

Forget the voice, forget the style Leon, the problem here is personality. If you have one you hide it really well!