22-year-old Brendan Murray carried the hopes of his hometown of Tuam and legions of fans across the country on his shoulders last Saturday night when he competed in the semi-final of this year's The X Factor. He joined Ray D'Arcy to talk about his elimination from the show, working with Louis Tomlinson and his plans for the future.

Back home now and recuperating, Brendan told Ray that he feels he's been in a bit of an X Factor "bubble" for the last couple of weeks.

"I wasn't dealing with reality for a while there, I was in this mad little X Factor bubble.. I'm still not over it, like...It feels like I did my audition 10 years ago and I've just been doing this ever since."

Calling it "the best experience" of his life and a show he would watch "religiously" with his family growing up, his X Factor stint might even trump his experience representing Ireland in the Eurovision and his time in the boyband Hometown.

"It was a big part of my life growing up and it was something I always wanted to do...It's just been absolutely insane, the whole thing."

While the immediate future is uncertain, Brendan is sure of one thing. His close bond with his mentor, Louis Tomlinson, will remain intact.

"After I got knocked out on Saturday night, he said to me, regardless of what happens, like, I'm your friend now for life…We're going to sit down and have a chat and hopefully we'll see what the future holds."

Listen to the whole interview on The Ray D'Arcy Show here.