Reggie 'N' Bollie on their debut single New Girl, X Factor and their perfect summer - Interview

Tradition dictates that X Factor runners-up often fair better career-wise than the winners, which is great news for Reggie N Bollie, who finished second to Louisa Johnson on last year's series.

Having just unleashed their debut single New Girl - an infectious, reggae-inspired summer bop - we sat down with them to find out how they're handling their new-found fame...

Hello Reggie N Bollie! Your debut single New Girl is finally out there – how does it feel?

Bollie: We’re on cloud eleven!

Reggie: Yeah we’re really happy, you know we just really wanted it out there so that everyone can have a feel of the song and enjoy it.

We’re chatting to you at your label Sony; how does this compare to your lives a year ago? 

Reggie: We hadn’t even done The X Factor yet. It’s just so funny, like today I just saw an old post that I made on Facebook talking about finding my way in life, and all of a sudden we are here releasing music. Being on X Factor was just such a dream come true and we feel so blessed to have had this opportunity!

What’s been the biggest change in your lives since The X Factor? Is it as glamorous as you thought or is the whole 'being a popstar' thing actually quite hard work?

Reggie: It is glamorous for us first of all because from where we were, we came from, and we didn’t have any of the opportunities that we have now. But then again, it is actually hard work, you know? Before you get into this you’re like, ‘oh, it’s the artists making it all happen,’ but then you realise it is a team that propel you. You are like the last stage of the production.

New Girl is a massive summer tune; we’re assuming you’d like this to go all the way to Number 1?

Reggie: We are so excited about New Girl, because the song celebrates being with one person that you love, one person who has been by your side through thick and thin, through the bad and the good. And it just has a nice summer feel good vibe we have in there.”

Bollie: A Number 1? Why not?! We hope New Girl takes us to Number 1, but as long as it puts a smile on people’s faces, we’ll be very happy.

Has Simon Cowell passed judgement over the song yet?

Reggie: Well what we know is, before the song comes out, or before we progress to the next level of each song, he needs to listen and say ‘yeah’ or ‘take that out’ or ‘no this is not good’. So for New Girl to come out, that means the boss’ stamp is on it.

Bollie: You know, everything we do, we know that it goes back to him and he has to confirm it. He decides what’s good and what has to be taken out. It's nice to know he’s given his stamp on New Girl, like, ‘yeah okay, let’s get this out there.’

Now, about last year’s winner’s single, which you had to perform alongside Louisa in the final…

Both: [Uproar of laughter]

Reggie: For us it was a challenge, and the good thing is before we did the performance, we knew that was the song we were going to perform. We tried to give it a twist, a spin here and there, but it’s still hard to have certain elements in there, and at the end of the day that’s how the crusaders roll. So yeah, we just went out there and belted our song.

Bollie: We did what we could do with the song, but we have no regrets because at that particular stage in the competition we felt like, to be in the final it meant a lot to us. Even if we were given Titanic to sing we would have tried our best.

Because New Girl is such a summer anthem, we wanted to find out what the perfect Reggie N Bollie summer would be. Let’s start with the tunes…

Reggie: For me, it’s Sax by Fleur East. I still connected that song to summer so much, I don’t know. Back in the day, we were listening to hardcore Reggae, that is all! Actually as well, that song by Beenie Man featuring Janet Jackson… Feel It.

Bollie: I think my best memory of summer songs is Starships by Nicki Minaj.

The perfect ice cream?

Bollie: Anything that’s vanilla and chocolate.

Reggie: A Magnum! Honestly, I’ll tell you, sometimes I fight with my kids about Magnums, like, don’t take the last one in there, but they always do.

The best summer cocktail?

Bollie: What was the one we were drinking when we were filming the advert for Littlewoods?

Reggie: A whisky sour.

Bollie: Yesssssssss! You know a whisky sour? Ooh fantastico! All you need is a whisky sour and a Magnum.

Dream holiday destination?

Bollie: I’ve heard a lot about Cyprus and Barbados, I’d love to go to one of them.

Reggie: Yeah I would like to go to Greece. The truth is, I haven’t been on holiday really. The only holiday I’ve been on is going to South Africa to shoot with Littlewoods and that was wicked! BA first class! We went to Cape Town just a few days after we had finished the X Factor Tour, we loved it.

Amazing. What is first class like on a plane?

Bollie: Oh it’s like having your own mini living room where you can do what you want, you can stretch your feet, turn around, relax basically.

Reggie: It also means that the air hostess smile at you every time, and you’re like, ‘yeah that’s me!’ Even before we flew we had to go to the VIP lounge and we had drinks and sat down and we were like, this is not fair, this exists and we never knew. It was so nice.”

Are either of you handy with a BBQ? Any good tips?

Bollie: Do you know what, if you blend ginger, and add a little bit of pepper...

Reggie: He’s a very good cook, trust me!

Bollie: …and then if you add a bit of coconut water, use that to season the chicken, leave that in the fridge for like a day before you grill it, and then the next day put it on the fire, get it well cooked, get a JD and coke, you’re done, you’re sorted!

Reggie: That’s my chef, chef Bollie!

Reggie 'N' Bollie's New Girl is out now.

Additional reporting: Phoebe Scott