Simon Cowell got a shock during Sunday night’s episode of ‘The X Factor’, when a member of the band Girl Thing, a girl group he formed in the late 1990s, turned up to the auditions.
Linzi Martin showed up to the auditions to try and impress her former manager, as well as his fellow judges Cheryl Fernandez-Versini, Louis Walsh and Mel B, who shot to fame as one fifth of the Spice Girls, the group Girl Thing were first intended to act as a rival to.
However, despite an emotional plea from Linzi, her performance of The Jackson 5’s ‘I’ll Be There’ failed to impress the panel, with Simon telling the singer he wouldn’t be able to put her through as it wouldn’t be fair to give her “false hope”, although Mel said she felt “compelled” to give her a “second chance”.
Linzi Martin
Ultimately, Linzi was sent home without a spot in the arena auditions, with Cheryl solemnly telling the camera crew her audition had been one of the worst experiences she’d ever had during her time on ‘The X Factor’.
Girl Thing released their first single ‘Last One Standing’ in June 2000, peaking at number eight in the UK chart, though their chart success was short-lived and soon afterwards they were dropped from their record label.
The band participated in the second series of ‘The Big Reunion’ earlier this year, where they revealed that they’d originally been set to release the single ‘Pure and Simple’ - which was eventually a number one smash for ‘Popstars’ winners Hear’Say - but they were dropped before they got the chance.