Same Difference claim Woolworths collapse played a part in the X Factor band's failure.
Singing siblings Sarah and Sean Smith thrilled and baffled the judges in equal measure with their energetic rendition of I'll Be There For You in the audition stage. The judges took a chance on the brother and sister duo - and they eventually sailed all the way through to the final in 2007.
Same Difference eventually finished in third place behind Rhydian Roberts and show winner Leon Jackson. However, the band's rise to fame almost didn't happen as they initially auditioned separately before a producer suggested they sing together - as Mirror Online reports.
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They were signed to Simon Cowell's music label Syco after the show and released their first album named Pop in 2008. However, they were dropped by the label due to disappointing sales.
Sean admitted he wished the band had been given a longer opportunity to grow their fan base. He added: "There were pop acts like The Saturdays at the time that we outsold in a week when they had been going for six weeks. They got a second deal and were pushed constantly in the media.
"It feels like we never got given the chance. We were either going to be as huge as Leona Lewis was the year before and be multi-platinum all over the world or it just wasn't going to happen."
The album was released against the backdrop of the 2008 recession and Sean said the album's failure was partially due to the collapse of Woolworths, who had purchased the majority of the group's stock.
He said: "It didn't help that there was a huge recession on at the time in 2008. It was easier to trim the fat off the books. That's life, you take the ups and the downs. We then had to wait to get out stock out of Woolworths. It definitely had an effect.
"I remember thinking 'so what, if they want to get it they will be able to'. But the type of market we were was kids going into Woolworths with parents, pulling their arms to get the CD. It was a huge blow for us at the time."
"It definitely impacted us in a big way as far as our careers going forward and that was a huge shame." They set up a singing and dancing for young fans, the Same Difference Pop Academy, then released second album 'The Rest is History' with an independent record label.
However, they broke the news they were splitting up to devastated fans in December 2014, with Sean telling us they wanted to become "nostalgic" rather than "flogging a dead horse". Revealing why they broke up, Sean says: "Obviously I always wanted to be solo from the very start as I auditioned on my own.
"It just got to the point where brother and sister working together for that long, we were killing each other as kids, then working constantly every day and on tour. It just got a bit much. We knew Same Difference was losing its shelf life a bit at that time. Sometimes it's best to just leave things in the past."
Sarah achieved her dreams of starting a family, having two kids with her husband, and started her own dance school in their home town of Portsmouth. Sean said they still enjoy a close relationship.
He added: "Straight away Sarah moved into buying a church and doing everything with her dance school. It really set her and her husband along a new path and now they're absolutely thriving. It was definitely the right thing for her.
"We've got a huge respect for each other now. Sometimes we were pulling in different directions and as a family it's tough to do that. The kids are absolutely amazing. Being an uncle is incredible. I'm already hearing the boys sing and it's like a new generation of the family is coming through."
Sean launched a solo career and said he enjoyed being able to finally explore his sexuality. He said: "All the time I was in Same Difference I was seen as the brother of the duo. I was kind of asexual in the way people knew me. I was able to come out and say this is who I am and sing about relationships, love and sex."
The singer released debut solo single 'Turn Me On' in September 2016 and his first solo album 'Solo' in July 2020. His second album 'Swing For The 90's' was released in April last year and Sean's new single 'In Love With The Night' was released earlier this month and surged to the top of the dance chart.
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