The legions of superfans 'addicted' to James Arthur

James Arthur rose to fame when he won X Factor in 2012

The idea of a superfan is nothing new, from The Beatles to One Direction, there have always been those that go far beyond being casual consumers of music.

For former X Factor winner James Arthur, this is evident by the JArmy Facebook group - an online task force that is more than 20,000 strong.

The devoted infantry are always on standby to defend their hero in the wake of criticism - deploying to social media to "flood the comments with praise".

This week Arthur made national headlines when he was dubbed "unrecognisable" after revealing a new look during a TV appearance, leading to some mockery on social media.

At the double, the JArmy cavalry were "up in arms" at the negative reaction, and have since been taking to Facebook comment sections to fight his corner.

I spoke to four JArmy recruits about their undying love for the North East heart throb, and their desire to do battle on his behalf.

Noosha designs her own merchandise every time she goes to a James Arthur gig

'It is an addiction'

Noosha Laverick from Hartlepool has met her favourite singer 12 times, and seen him perform twice as many.

The 35-year-old makes her own hoodies with iron-on paper in preparation for gigs. She's made her own outfits for all 24.

"What do I love about him? God, how long have you got?

"It's everything."

Noosha has met James after gigs, at meet and greets, and even one time at Dogs Trust in Darlington.

She likes other singers, but said something about James Arthur simply "hits different".

"He said in a book once that he's got an addictive personality. I don't know whether that feeds into other people to make them addicted to him.

"It sounds stupid, but honestly it is like an addiction."

Noosha said she, and other group members, "fight battles" on behalf of the Impossible singer.

"There's lots of trolls. Especially with recent headlines about the way he looks, we see some really nasty comments.

"Some people ignore the trolls and flood the comments with positivity, other people respond to the trolls.

"People don't have to like his voice, but I don't then think you need to be nasty about his appearance. It's uncalled for and we feel like we defend him constantly."

Hayley Allen (right) took her daughter Gabrielle (left) to see James Arthur for her first ever concert

'I can relate to James'

Hayley Allen enlisted in the JArmy two years ago.

The 34-year-old school kitchen assistant lives in a Hull and describes the group as "a lovely network of people brought together through the love of James".

"I'm obsessed. I went to see him three times last year so I'm pretty committed.

"I tune into any radio or TV appearances he does. I even had a comment read out to him on the One Show last week!

"I've suffered bad anxiety so I love the way I can relate to James. He's such a role model and is so talented.

"I took my daughter to see him last year, it was her first concert. We got lucky and were sat in front of his family to add to the magic.

"My nine-year-old son now wants to come, he's a big fan too. I'm already saving up and plan to go to more than one show again.

"I've sadly never had the pleasure of meeting him, but that's my mission".

Reacting to this week's headlines, Hayley said "people can be so mean".

"He's a lovely looking man and I wish he would get the break he deserves.

"Myself and the JArmy defend him no end."

Arthur's latest album, 2021's It'll All Make Sense In The End, peaked at number three in the UK album charts.

With more than 36 million monthly listeners, the singer-songwriter is the 77th most streamed artist on Spotify.

Yet, some fans believe their favourite musician is under-appreciated by the music industry.

In 2021, group members coordinated social media posts to constantly enter his music into radio station segments where listeners can suggest songs.

The same year, one person, believed to be a JArmy foot soldier, even complained to Ofcom about a perceived lack of air-time.

Ofcom said editorial decisions, such as song choices, are outside of its remit.

Retired Val Bainbridge defends her favourite singer on Facebook when the JArmy feels it's required

'More to life than Ed Sheeran'

Retired Val Bainbridge, 76, wishes "people would give him the recognition he's due".

Being from Norton, Val sees James as "a local lad who I try to support as much as I can".

"We're all of the same opinion that James doesn't get the recognition he deserves, He doesn't get enough air-time.

"There's more to life than Ed Sheeran and Lewis Capaldi".

Val talks about how the JArmy "campaign" to encourage others to stream and buy his music.

"That's what we do. The admins of the group keep their eye on social media and if they see a tweet or anything they tell us to go retweet it, or to keep sharing stuff on Facebook.

"At the moment we're all up in arms because people are commenting on his new look. They're saying he's had botox and this and that.

"Look, he's just grown his hair.

"I just put a comment somewhere saying, "you should concentrate on his music not what he looks like."

Val said she recently tried to attend a charity football match in Sunderland James was part of, but couldn't make it.

She hopes to meet him one day.

Barry says being a JArmy soldier is "amazing"

'Brings light to men'

JArmy conscript Barry Bowlin is part of the foreign legion.

The 50-year-old taxi driver in West Virginia, USA, defends the Car's Outside singer "vigorously" online.

"He puts himself out there to help others even though he will get abused by people and the press. He does it for his fans.

"He does so much to bring light to men that struggle mentally like I do.

"I listened to one song called Get Down on a loop when I came home from watching my mother pass away. His songs helped me deal with that time.

"Being part of JArmy is amazing. To speak to so many people from all over the world and know we all have this one thing in common is comforting."