Simon Phillip Cowell is an English television personality, entrepreneur and record executive. He is the creator of The X Factor and Got Talent franchises which have been sold around the world. He has judged on the British television talent competition series Pop Idol (2001–2003), The X Factor UK and Britain's Got Talent (2007–present), and the American television talent competition series American Idol (2002–2010), The X Factor US (2011–2013), and America's Got Talent (2016–present). Cowell is the founder and sole owner of the British entertainment company Syco.
Michael Louis Vincent Walsh is an Irish music manager and television personality. He has managed Johnny Logan, Boyzone, Jedward and Westlife, four of Ireland's most successful pop acts in the 1990s and 2000s. He later became a talent judge on television shows such as Popstars (2001–2002), You're a Star (2003–2004), The X Factor, and Ireland's Got Talent (2018–2019).
Seán Dermot Fintan O'Leary Jr. is an English broadcaster who currently works for ITV and BBC Radio 2. His 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 (UK) on ITV, a position he held from 2007 until its final series in 2018, with the exception of 2015. Since 2021, O'Leary has presented ITV's This Morning on a Friday, School and Bank Holidays alongside Alison Hammond and [Gino DiCampo’s magic kitchen].
This Morning is a British daytime magazine programme that is broadcast on ITV. It debuted on 3 October, 1988 and is broadcast live every weekday from 10:00am to 12:30pm across the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland. The programme features a variety of news, as well as showbiz, fashion, beauty, lifestyle, home and garden, food, tech, live phone ins, and competitions.
Holly Marie Willoughby is an English television presenter, author and model. She is currently the co-presenter of ITV's This Morning (2009–present) and Dancing on Ice alongside Phillip Schofield.
Benjamin Peter Sherrington Shephard is an English television presenter and journalist who is currently employed by ITV. He was a main presenter on the now defunct breakfast programme GMTV and since April 2014 has co-hosted the ITV breakfast show Good Morning Britain alongside Susanna Reid, Kate Garraway and Charlotte Hawkins. He has also hosted game shows such as The Krypton Factor (2009–2010), Tipping Point (2012–present) and Ninja Warrior UK (2015–present).
Cheryl Ann Tweedy is an English singer and television personality. Born and raised in Newcastle upon Tyne, she rose to fame in late 2002 upon winning a place in Girls Aloud, a girl group created through ITV's Popstars: The Rivals. While still in the group, she began a solo career in April 2009, and between then and 2014, she released four studio albums – 3 Words (2009), Messy Little Raindrops (2010), A Million Lights (2012) and Only Human (2014). Collectively, the albums included ten singles, five of which – "Fight for This Love", "Promise This", "Call My Name", "Crazy Stupid Love" and "I Don't Care" – reached the top position on the UK Singles Chart. Cheryl was the first British female solo artist to have five number-one singles in the UK, and she held the record for the British female solo artist with the most UK number-one singles until Jess Glynne overtook her in 2018.
The X Factor is a British reality television music competition, created by Simon Cowell. Premiering on 4 September 2004, it was produced by Fremantle's Talkback Thames and Cowell's production company Syco Entertainment for ITV, as well as simulcast on Virgin Media One in Ireland. The programme ran for around 445 episodes across fifteen series, each one primarily broadcast late in the year, until its final episode in December 2018. The majority of episodes were presented by Dermot O'Leary, with some exceptions: the first three series were hosted by Kate Thornton; while Caroline Flack and Olly Murs hosted the show for the twelfth series.
The X Factor is a British television music competition to find new singing talent. The fifth series was broadcast on ITV from 16 August 2008 until 13 December 2008. Dermot O'Leary returned to present the main show on ITV, while Fearne Cotton was replaced by Holly Willoughby as presenter of spin-off show The Xtra Factor on ITV2. Simon Cowell, Louis Walsh, and Dannii Minogue returned to the judging panel. Sharon Osbourne left after four series and was replaced by Cheryl Cole. The series was won by Alexandra Burke, with Cole emerging as the winning mentor. Auditions in front of producers were held in April and May, with callbacks in front of the judges in June. The number of applicants for series 5 reached an all-time high with a reported 182,000 people auditioning. A number of well-established music acts from around the world, such as Beyoncé, Mariah Carey, Britney Spears, Girls Aloud, Take That, Il Divo, and series 3 winner Leona Lewis, performed during the live stages of the show.
The X Factor is a British television music competition to find new singing talent. The sixth series started on ITV on 22 August 2009 and was won by Joe McElderry on 13 December 2009. Cheryl Cole emerged as the winning mentor for the second consecutive year, the first time in the show's history that a mentor has won back-to-back series. The show was presented by Dermot O'Leary, with spin-off show The Xtra Factor presented by Holly Willoughby on ITV2. McElderry's winner's single was a cover version of Miley Cyrus's "The Climb". Public auditions by aspiring singers began in June 2009 and were held in five cities across the UK. Simon Cowell, Louis Walsh, Dannii Minogue and Cole returned as judges. This season was the first to be sponsored by TalkTalk after they took over the sponsorship from The Carphone Warehouse. For the first time, auditions were held in front of a live audience. Following initial auditions, the "bootcamp" stage took place in August 2009, where the number of contestants was narrowed down to 24. The 24 contestants were split into their categories, Boys, Girls, Over 25s and Groups, and given a judge to mentor them at the "judges' houses" stage and throughout the finals.
Fearne Wood is an English broadcaster and author. She began her career in the late 1990s presenting various children's television shows for GMTV, CITV and CBBC. In 2007, she presented The Xtra Factor, an ITV2 spin-off from the main show. Cotton presented Top of the Pops from 2004 to 2021 and some of the Red Nose Day and Children in Need telethons. From 2008 to 2018, she was a team captain on the ITV2 comedy panel show Celebrity Juice.
"Fight for This Love" is the debut solo single by English singer and Girls Aloud member Cheryl Cole, recorded for her debut studio album, 3 Words (2009). It was released in the United Kingdom and Ireland as the lead single on 2009 by Fascination Records and in 2010 in some European countries as the album's second single through Universal Music. It was written and produced by Wayne Wilkins and Steve Kipner with an additional writing from Andre Merrit. The up-tempo pop, dance-pop and R&B song revolves around a lyrical content of not giving up on the partner.
3 Words is the debut studio album by English singer Cheryl Cole released on 23 October 2009 by Fascination Records. Cole's first solo performance was on American rapper will.i.am's "Heartbreaker" (2008), on which she sang additional vocals. Following this, it was announced that Cole's band Girls Aloud would take a break from releasing material, having enjoyed five successful albums and twenty consecutive top-ten singles. In April 2009, Cole started working on solo material in Los Angeles and London, mainly collaborating with will.i.am, who served as executive producer of the album.
"Parachute" is a song by English singer Cheryl Cole from her debut studio album, 3 Words (2009). It was written by Marshall Altman and Ingrid Michaelson, music production by American producer Syience. "Parachute" was released on 11 March 2010 as the album's third and final single and became Cole's third consecutive solo UK top 5 hit, and her third Irish top 10 hit. It was nominated for a Brit Award in 2011.
The X Factor is a British television music competition to find new singing talent. The seventh series started on ITV on 21 August 2010 and ended on 12 December 2010. The series saw the creation of the boy band One Direction, from boys who entered the competition as individuals. The winner of the competition was Matt Cardle. Cardle was mentored throughout the show by Dannii Minogue. After the victory, he released his debut single "When We Collide". A total of 15,448,019 votes were cast throughout the series. It was presented by Dermot O'Leary, with spin-off show The Xtra Factor presented by Konnie Huq on ITV2, who took over from Holly Willoughby.
Messy Little Raindrops is the second studio album by English singer Cheryl Cole, released on 29 October 2010 by Fascination Records. The project is the follow-up to Cole's multi-platinum debut solo album 3 Words (2009), following seven successful years as a member of girl group Girls Aloud. Recorded in Los Angeles and London, Cheryl mainly worked with Wayne Wilkins, who previously produced Cole's number one debut single "Fight for This Love".
The X Factor is a British television music competition to find new singing talent. The eighth series aired on ITV on 20 August 2011 and ended on 11 December 2011. Dermot O'Leary hosted the main show on ITV, while Caroline Flack and series 6 runner-up Olly Murs co-presented the spin-off show The Xtra Factor on ITV2. Louis Walsh returned to the judging panel and was joined by Gary Barlow, Kelly Rowland and Tulisa. Barlow, Rowland, Tulisa joined the panel replacing judges, Simon Cowell, Dannii Minogue and Cheryl Cole. Series 5 winner Alexandra Burke served as a guest judge for week 4 of the live shows due to Rowland having a throat infection.
The X Factor is a British television music competition to find new singing talent. The ninth series began airing on ITV on 18 August 2012 and ended on 9 December 2012. Dermot O'Leary returned as presenter of the main show on ITV, whilst Caroline Flack and Olly Murs returned to co-present The Xtra Factor on ITV2. Louis Walsh, Gary Barlow and Tulisa returned as judges. Nicole Scherzinger was confirmed as the fourth permanent judge after Geri Halliwell, Leona Lewis, Rita Ora, Mel B, Anastacia and Scherzinger herself stood in as guest judges for the vacant position left by Kelly Rowland. After the show of 8 December, two of Scherzinger's acts, James Arthur and Jahméne Douglas, became the top two, meaning that Scherzinger was guaranteed to win. Arthur was announced as the winner on 9 December, and released a cover of Shontelle's "Impossible" as his winner's song. As of 2016, it is the most successful winner's single in the show's history.
British recording artist Cheryl has appeared in numerous music videos and films. Her videography includes ten music videos, three guest appearances in other artists' videos, two film appearances and several television appearances.
The X Factor is a British television music competition to find new singing talent. The eleventh series began airing on ITV on 30 August 2014 and finished on 14 December 2014. Dermot O'Leary presented his eighth series of the main show on ITV and Sarah-Jane Crawford presented spin-off show The Xtra Factor on ITV2, replacing Caroline Flack and Matt Richardson. Louis Walsh was the only judge from series 10 to return and was joined by former judges Cheryl Fernandez-Versini, Simon Cowell, and new judge Mel B, who replaced Sharon Osbourne, Gary Barlow and Nicole Scherzinger. Former judge Tulisa returned as a guest judge for the final on 13 December due to Mel B being ill. The series also saw the lower age limit decreased from 16 to 14, as it was in series 4 and 5. This was Walsh's final series as a judge before returning in series 13. It was O'Leary's final series as presenter on the main show, as he announced on 27 March 2015 that he was leaving to pursue other projects, before returning in series 13. On 11 May, Crawford also confirmed via Twitter that she would leave her position as The Xtra Factor presenter.
