Cocozza auditioned for and appeared on the
eighth series of
The X Factor in 2011. He was put through to the live shows by
Gary Barlow in his Boys category (solo males aged 16–24) alongside
Marcus Collins, Craig Colton and James Michael. However, on 8 November 2011, Cocozza left the show after breaking competition rules, admitting his life had "gone out of control" while taking part in the show. He later said he was ejected for boasting to production staff about abusing
cocaine. He was replaced by
Amelia Lily, who was eliminated in the first live show by her mentor
Kelly Rowland. In January 2012, months after leaving
The X Factor, Cocozza became a housemate on the
ninth series of
Celebrity Big Brother. He finished in second place losing out to actress and television presenter
Denise Welch. On 5 November 2012, Cocozza released his debut EP online, which reached No. 19 on
iTunes. "She's Got a Motorcycle" was released as a single, with an accompanying video posted to YouTube. The music video shows Cocozza riding a motorcycle towards a wall of fire. The single reached number 89 in the UK chart. On 21 April 2013, Cocozza released his second EP to iTunes, titled
Embrace which failed to chart Five months later, on 13 September 2013, Cocozza and his band The Telescreen announced through their official
PledgeMusic site that they were planning to release a debut studio album set to launch early 2014 if funding succeeded. ==Personal life==