Crystal Swing turn down ‘X Factor’ because they fear being mocked

Family band Crystal Swing turned down an invitation to appear on The X Factor fearing the would be “mocked” by the British media for their wholesome image.

The trio — mother Mary Murray-Burke and her children Derek and Dervla — are hugely popular in Ireland and have already made inroads in America with songs including ‘The Hucklebuck’ and ‘He Drinks Tequila’.

In Dec 2010, the East Cork family caused a sensation when they appeared on Ellen De Generes’s chat show in the US.

Mary, 49, yesterday revealed to Derek Mooney on RTÉ Radio: “I got a call from a lady involved with The X Factor a few weeks ago and she was literally begging us to come on The X Factor. I was out and missed the call and she left a long voice mail for me to call her back.

“I rang her back and she was adamant that she wanted us on the show. She said somebody from the show had seen us on TV and on YouTube and felt we were ideal... But I just dismissed it really and I said no, that we didn’t want to go on at all.. I know it’s terrible but it’s the fear of us being mocked as a family going up there.

“We got a bit of a hard time on Twitter and YouTube earlier on in our career. There were some nasty things said. I would brave it myself, but I thought of Derek and Dervla.

“Derek is a very funny guy but he’s really genuine and I don’t think they both could handle the pressure if it was a negative feedback.

“We were asked, so they must have thought us good enough to go on. But having discussed it together, we decided to just not do it. The woman said she had loved what she’s seen of us performance-wise, but we didn’t get as far as discussing what she really wanted. I just said no there and then.”