X Factor’s James Arthur faces mental health battle and foster care ‘trauma’ in new BBC documentary

James Arthur is facing decades of ‘trauma’ in a new BBC documentary called James Arthur: Out of Our Minds.

The 2012 X Factor winner comes to terms with his demons head-on and has opened up to his parents about the impact of their decision to put him into foster care at the age of 14, in turn leaving him with a severe mental health battle.

James’ parents Shirley and Neil split when he was two-years-old, with both remarrying to different partners the next year, and James admits to holding ‘a lot of resentment’ towards them since then.

While he lived in Redcar on the North Yorkshire coast for most of his childhood, James moved to Bahrain with his mother and stepfather between the ages of nine and 13, before moving back to North Yorkshire and entering part-time foster care.

The Impossible singer, 34, suffered with depression and anxiety after leaving the foster system and ended up feeling suicidal after he won the singing competition a decade ago.

In the new BBC documentary, James stated that going back to his childhood home was crucial in helping him tackle his mental health battle.

He said: “I decided that, to tackle my mental health issues, I had to start by going back to my hometown to revisit my past, and the separation from my parents.

“I need to talk to my dad. With mum, I don’t know if I’ve ever got closure from her - to hear her say ‘sorry’ without hearing a ‘but’.”

Although he has tried to keep a distance from his parents, James has moved back up to Redcar after he felt isolated living down South.

James faced similar heartbreak when he lost his unborn child with girlfriend Jessica Grist due to an ectopic pregnancy, a story in which he describes in his song ‘Emily’.

You can watch James Arthur face his mental health battles on BBC Three