Well, after a run of good luck that even John Sergeant would be proud of, Daniel Evans has finally bowed out of The X Factor. He’s incited a support campaign from Chris Moyles, and even received a letter of support from Gordon Brown (that’s the Prime Minister, for those of you who are apathetic about politics).

Despite getting a critical bashing week on week from the judges, Daniel remains on chipper form, and he’s full of chat on the phone as we talk about X Factor, older contestants and what he’s up to next.

He tells us he’s glad that the public kept him in the show for so long and seems to feel like he’s emerging from a bit of a bubble as he’s avoided newspapers and fansites during his stay in the X Factor house. I ask him if he was aware of Chris Moyles’s campaign to keep him in the show:

Daniel: Yeah, I heard about that. I mean, I’ve tried to keep away from too much press and stuff because I just want to concentrate on the songs, and as I wasn’t reading anything good, I thought “What’s the point in reading it?” Yeah, but Chris Moyles, I heard about that, and I heard it was a bit of a mickey-take, but I thought it was pretty funny.

Unreality TV: Do you think it worked in your favour?

Daniel: Well, I don’t know if it was that! I think that week was Mariah Carey week and it was probably one of my strongest performances. I’d like to think it was the performance that got me through.

Unreality TV: That’s the thing, you really have been improving week by week…

Daniel: I know! The first couple of weeks my performances were weak and the criticisms I was getting about them were probably justified. I am very self-critical, and I do want to get it right. When you get a chance like this, you take it because you don’t get ‘em very often. For the first couple of weeks I was also struggling with stage fright.

I think even my worst critics will see that I was getting better and better. I’m not silly, I didn’t think I could win the show, but I think I did really well getting this far, and it’s been a really great experience. It’s just a shame there were so many people saying so many nasty things about me.

So X Factor’s been a great experience to have?

Daniel: Yeah, and that’s what I try to tell the younger kids in the house, to try and go out with a smile, because when you look back on it and you’re sitting there with your grandkids, you don’t want to see this miserable mug on the TV. I don’t see the point in being sad. I’d have loved to stay longer, I’d love to have a record contract, but you can’t always have what you want. You’ve just got to make the most of what you’ve got, and that’s what I try to do.

We’ve been talking about older acts in X Factor and the only older act to make it through X Factor successfully was Steve Brookstein..

…and look at the amount of stick he got! It’s easy to look back and slate him, but at the time it was “Oh, he’s great, he won!” Now it, “Who’s he?” But he made different choices in his life and different choices in his music, and maybe they weren’t the right choices, but I still think he was great. And if people are going to compare me to him, I would take that as a compliment.

I feel sorry for him for getting that criticism.

But the expectation for the winner of X Factor is that they become a viable pop act. As an older contestant, that’s difficult, because they can’t market you in the same way they can the Under 25’s.

Yeah, well I know with Louis in particular, I’m not his stereotypical idea of a pop star, but I think the public keeping me in this long maybe shows that we’re missing a bit of that old-style sing-with-feeling kind of singer. We don’t have that anymore – we used to have the Michael Bolton’s and the Tom Joneses and other guys who used to do big ballads.

I think when Louis and Simon got down to one act, they started to worry that the public liked what I was doing, the fact that I was putting my emotion in the songs. I think Louis was getting a bit nervous to be honest.

But who know, maybe there is a hole in the market for that kind of stuff? How can I not be happy though, I’m on the X Factor tour. When I got into this, I just hoped that I could get work out of it. It’ll be a chance to show what I can do without the pressure, and there’s always been a theme – this will be a chance to do my own thing.

When I was talking to Austin Drage a couple of weeks ago, he mentioned the fact that the rehearsal schedule is really intense…

It’s non-stop. I used to watch the show years back and wonder what they were getting so emotional about. I mean, they sing for two minutes, then they go back to their big house. Now I know it’s non-stop: it’s filming, it’s choreography, it’s vocal coaching.

And what are you doing now, are you looking for a record deal?

I don’t know, as long as I get regular work, gigs and pay the mortgage and keep a roof over my head. I mean don’t get me wrong, I’d love to do it. Before I got into the karaoke, I used to write songs, and I’m a pretty good keyboard player. In the house, me and Austin would play together and write songs, we were jamming all the time.

We wrote a song while we were in the house, but never finished it, but that’s inspired me to do the songs, get back on the keyboards. There was a keyboard in the house and I don’t know how many hours I spent on that!

What’s it been like living in the X Factor house?

I’ve loved it, we’ve been a really close group. I mean, I’m sharing a room with JLS, so that has been an experience for me and I’ve found some really cool new music that they listen to but they also listen to some of the old stuff that I thought only I knew.

They’re very good, they’re really respectful, really tidy, they’re almost like my little brothers now. The week before, when I got through, they were cheering me on as much as the crowd. They’re great guys, they’re very musical and they’ve got great parents. I think those guys could win it.

I’d be happy for anyone to win it, but because I’ve been so close to them – I’ve seen the inside and outside of their lives, their families and I couldn’t pick a better bunch of guys.