Former X Factor semi-finalist Danny Tetley has pleaded guilty to sexually exploiting multiple teenage boys.
The 39-year-old entered a guilty plea for five charges of sexual exploitation of a child at Bradford Crown Court. Tetley, who reached the live shows of the 2018 series of The X Factor, was accused of asking five boys between the ages of 15 and 16 to send him explicit images in exchange for money between October 2018 to August 2019.
It was also revealed that Tetley had also pleaded guilty to four other charges involving two 14-year-olds at a previous hearing. A reporting ban had previously been in place in case it was to go before a jury.
However, Tetley pleaded not guilty to making indecent images of children and perverting the course of justice, with prosecutor Michael Smith telling the court he would not stand trial on the other outstanding allegations.
He said: “The investigation is complete and the victims have been identified.”
Defence barrister Andrew Dallas asked for the sentencing to be adjourned so they had time to consider “well over 10,000” text messages and
WhatsApp messages, which had been served.
Some of the indecent images supplied by two of the victims were in the Crown Prosecution Service’s most serious category.Tetley was remanded in custody until next month and will be sentenced on 24 January.
Danny previously denied the offences and said he was an “innocent man” who was “without a doubt being set up”.
“I’ve heard these accusations before with different kind of things, it’s just people just out to earn a few quid,” he told The Sun.
Tetley reached the semi final of last year’s X Factor, where he was mentored by Robbie Williams’ wife Ayda Field, after working in Benidorm as a singer.
He previously tried out for now-defunct ITV talent show Pop Idol in 2001.