Cheryl Fernandez-Versini

Cheryl Ann Fernandez-Versini (née Tweedy, formerly Cole; born 30 June 1983) is an English singer, dancer, and television personality who is known by the mononym Cheryl in the context of her recording promotions. She rose to fame in late 2002 when she auditioned for the reality television show Popstars: The Rivals on ITV. The programme announced that Fernandez-Versini had won a place as a member of the girl group Girls Aloud. The group's line-up remained the same throughout their history and during that time the group achieved a string of twenty consecutive top ten singles in the United Kingdom (including four number one singles) and six platinum albums (two of which went to number one) and earned five Brit Award nominations from 2005 to 2010. At the 2009 Brit Awards, Girls Aloud won Best Single with their song "The Promise". In early 2013, the group announced that they had split up.

Fernandez-Versini embarked on a solo career and released her first solo studio album 3 Words (2009). The album became a commercial success and spawned three successful singles including the lead single from the album, "Fight for This Love," which debuted at number one on the UK charts, becoming the best selling single of the year. 2010 saw the release of Fernandez-Versini's second studio album Messy Little Raindrops, which produced two singles, the first being "Promise This" which also debuted at number one. Fernandez-Versini released her third solo album A Million Lights on 18 June 2012, with lead single "Call My Name" becoming her third number one single.Only Human was released in 2014 and spawned three singles including "Crazy Stupid Love" and "I Don't Care". Both singles went to number one in the UK and made Fernandez-Versini the first British female to have five number ones in the UK. The singer still holds the record, jointly with Jess Glynne.

Simon Cowell

Simon Phillip Cowell (/ˈkaʊəl/; born 7 October 1959) is an English television talent judge and mentor, music and television producer, music talent scout (aka A&R executive) and entrepreneur. He is most recognized as a judge on the British TV talent competition series Pop Idol, The X Factor, and Britain's Got Talent, and the American TV talent competition shows American Idol, The X Factor, and America's Got Talent. Cowell owns the television production and music publishing house Syco.

As a judge, Cowell often makes blunt and controversial comments, including insults and wisecracks about contestants and their abilities. He combines activities in both the television and music industries. Cowell has produced and promoted singles and albums for various artists, including television personalities. He was most recently featured on the ninth series of Britain's Got Talent and the eleventh series of UK's The X Factor.

In 2004 and 2010, Time named Cowell one of the 100 most influential people in the world.New Statesman listed Cowell at number 41 in a list of "50 People who Matter [in] 2010".TV Guide named him at number 10 in their 2013 list of The 60 Nastiest Villains of All Time. According to The Sunday Times Rich List of the wealthiest people in the UK, Cowell was worth £325 million in 2015.

The X Factor (UK TV series)

The X Factor is a British reality television music competition to find new singing talent, contested by aspiring singers drawn from public auditions. Created by Simon Cowell, the show began in 2004 and has since aired annually from August/September until December. The show is produced by FremantleMedia's Thames (previously Talkback Thames) and Cowell's production company Syco TV. It is broadcast on the ITV network in the United Kingdom and simulcast on TV3 in Ireland. The "X Factor" refers to the undefinable "something" that makes for star quality.

The show is currently presented by Olly Murs and Caroline Flack. The series consists of auditions, bootcamp, judges' houses, several weeks of live shows, semi-finals and the final. After the show's success, it then became an international franchise following a similar format. The series has a spin-off behind-the-scenes show called The Xtra Factor, which airs directly after the main show on ITV2.

History

The X Factor was created by Sony Music A&R judge Simon Cowell as a replacement for Pop Idol. Cowell, who was a judge on Pop Idol, wished to launch a show to which he owned the television rights.Pop Idol's first series was massively successful, and while the second series was also successful, the viewing figures for its finale dropped. Some—including Cowell's fellow Pop Idol judge Pete Waterman— considered Michelle McManus an unworthy winner. In 2004, ITV announced a new show created by Cowell, with no involvement from Pop Idol creator Simon Fuller—The X Factor. The perceived similarity between the two shows later became the subject of a legal dispute.

Dermot O'Leary

Sean Dermot Fintan O'Leary, Jr. (born May 24th, 1973), better known as Dermot O'Leary, is a British-Irish broadcaster. Based in the UK, he is known as a television presenter for ITV and a radio presenter for BBC Radio 2.

O'Leary's radio career began when he worked as a disc jockey at Essex Radio, but he is best known for being the presenter of The X Factor on ITV, a position he held between 2007 and 2014.

Early life

O'Leary was born in Colchester, Essex, England to parents Seán and Maria, who had moved to the United Kingdom from the Republic of Ireland. He is "extremely proud" of his Irish roots and holds dual British and Irish citizenship. O'Leary attended primary school in Marks Tey and later St Benedict's Catholic College in Colchester. He admits that his relaxed attitude at school caused him to fail all but two of his GCSEs. Following that, O'Leary re-took his school leaving qualifications, allowing him to later start his A Level courses at Colchester Sixth Form College. He eventually studied for a degree in Media Studies with Politics, at Middlesex University.

Kate Thornton

Kate Thornton is an English journalist and television presenter, best known as the first presenter of The X Factor (2004–2006) and for presenting daytime shows including Loose Women (2009–2011) and This Morning (2009–2012). In 2010, she co-presented the first series of 71 Degrees North alongside Gethin Jones.

Early in her career, she wrote for the Daily Mirror, and was editor of Smash Hits magazine.

Career

Journalism