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X Factor Winner Tate Stevens “Wanted to Throw Up” Before Results

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The X Factor winner Tate Stevens

Tate Stevens for the win!

On Thursday's season-two finale of The X Factor, the 37-year-old country singer, whose mentor was L.A. Reid, walked away with a $5 million recording contract.

The Missouri native and father of two bested Carly Rose Sonenclar (Britney Spears' 13-year-old prodigy) and Simon Cowell's group Fifth Harmony.

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Waiting for the results was excruciating, Stevens admitted to Us Weekly backstage. "Leading up to that moment, I wanted to throw up because it was so intense," he told Us. "I was like, 'Ugh, oh my gosh,' and when they called my name I just remember looking at LA Reid and I said, 'They called my name. I won.' And I turned into a big old puddle of mush and we had a big man hug for a while."

He added gratefully: "I'm blessed,and I can't thank people enough for everything they've done, the country fans, Tate Nation!"

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As Stevens waits for the big news to sink in, he's not sure yet how he and his wife and their two kids will celebrate. "I think it's going to take a while. I think it's going to take a while to sink in and really get the magnitude of what happened tonight. This is huge. We have the rest of our lives to celebrate this! [My family] sacrified a lot for me to even do this, which means a ton … it's very amazing."

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Thursday night also marked Reid's final evening as a mentor/judge on the show. "It was emotional," Reid told Us. "The beauty of X Factor is that – and the biggest joy I get from it is that I know we actually get to change some people's lives. That's what I love, right. I don't really need fame, I don't need popularity. What I really need is that really good complete feeling that I've helped change someone's life . . .I had a great time doing the X Factor."

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