Finishing runner-up in “The X Factor Australia” isn’t so bad, just ask Dean Ray. The 22-year-old NSW crooner has not only scored a recording contract with Sony Music Australia, he is also going on tour with The Veronicas.

Jessica and Lisa Origliasso, the twin sisters who form the chart-topping duo The Veronicas, have chosen the reality competition show finalist to join them in their national tour. Dean, real name Dean Pritchard, will be the opening act for the sisters’ “Sanctified” tour in February.

There are five dates for the tour, and Dean will be opening four of them. He won’t be available to make it to the Adelaide schedule, so The Veronicas will be announcing another act to take his place. The “You Ruin Me” singers will be at the Concert Hall in Perth on February 13, Adelaide Entertainment Centre on the 15th, The Forum in Melbourne on the 16th, Enmore Theatre in Sydney on 21st, and at the City Hall in Brisbane on February 22.

Since finishing runner-up to champ Marlisa Punzalan in “The X Factor Australia,” Dean signed with Sony Music Australia for a recording contract. His debut single “Coming Back” was released on iTunes, and had debuted at number five on the ARIA Singles Chart. His debut album also debuted at number five on the ARIA Albums Chart.

Dean was fairly quiet about his personal life while on the show. Unbeknownst to many, he has been dating another reality competition show winner. Bonnie Anderson was just 12 years old when she won “Australia’s Got Talent” in 2007, and so she knows a lot about coping with fame showbiz hands out to fortunate recipients.

“I didn’t want people asking me questions about it,” Dean explained to the Herald Sun why he chose to keep quiet about his love life with Bonnie. “The last thing I wanted to do while we were having a long distance relationship was to have to talk about her all the time because I missed her.”

He continued, “The thing is she gets it, all of this. I understand her side of things and she understands what I go through and she teaches me a lot about that, too.”