Axed X Factor teenager Frankie Cocozza admitted he has been an "idiot" after boasting about taking drugs.
The 18-year-old, who was kicked out of the show on Tuesday for breaking the rules, confessed he has taken cocaine six times in his life.
In an interview with the Sun, the party-loving teenager also revealed he has slept with seven girls since he became a contestant.
Cocozza told the newspaper: "All I can say is I will regret this for the rest of my life. I was an idiot and it was just a stupid thing to do. I feel bad about letting the fans down and I'd like to apologise to the people who voted for me. I'm really, really sorry."
Cocozza also apologised to his mentor Gary Barlow and the staff of the ITV1 show.
Show chiefs axed the teenager after he was heard bragging about drugs, which programme bosses said broke the rules.
In his interview, the mop-haired youngster said he first tried cocaine as a 16-year-old school leaver. He said: "I've never bought coke myself but I've done it about six times when I've been pissed and it has been offered to me. The most I've done is four lines in one go."
Cocozza also confessed to trying illegal high mephedrone in the past, and said he had "smoked a lot of weed". But he insisted he is not an addict and does not need to go to rehab.
The teenager said he went off the rails after Saturday's show because he was criticised in front of millions of viewers following a below-par performance. "I was embarrassed and totally devastated by what they said about me, so I went mental - a bit too mental as it turned out," he told the newspaper.
He said he drank "loads" at a party and remembered taking one line of cocaine - the first time he had taken the drug since the beginning of June. But he denied he was high on Sunday night's results show, when he survived the public vote.
