Another series of ‘Celebrity Big Brother’ is upon us, and while the line-up contains the usual mix of former soap actors, tabloid hellraisers and US reality stars we’ve never heard of, there’s one housemate we are particularly excited about potentially seeing - ‘X Factor’ 2011 contestant Amelia Lily.
The singer was one of our favourite-ever contestants, and it’s fair to say her time on the ITV talent show was far from smooth, which should stand her in good stead for a stint in the ‘CBB’ house.
As she prepares to enter the reality TV fishbowl, here’s a quick reminder of her journey on ‘The X Factor’, and what she’s been up to since.
Her initial audition blew the judges away
Amelia auditioned for ‘The X Factor’ when she was just 16 years old, but her mature and powerful voice won unanimous praise from the judges after she performed a rendition of Janis Joplin’s ‘Piece Of My Heart’.
Tulisa (remember her?) told her: “You performed like a 20-year-old woman who’s been perfecting her craft for years and years.”
Gary Barlow also told Amelia she was “the reason he wanted to sit in the judge’s chair”.
Her Judges Houses audition made Kelly Rowland forget who Katy Perry was
After Amelia finished performing a rendition of Katy Perry’s hit ‘E.T.’, her mentor Kelly Rowland was so impressed, she asked guest judge Jennifer Hudson: “Katy, who?”
A cruel twist meant her time on the live shows was short-lived
In an ‘X Factor’ bloodbath during week one of the live shows, each judge was asked to vote off one act in their category.
After Amelia failed to wow the judges with a performance of Michael Jackson’s ‘Billie Jean’, her mentor Kelly controversially chose to send her home over the other girls in her category, Misha B, Janet Devlin and Sophie Habibis.
But her ‘X Factor’ journey was far from over
In an ‘X Factor’ first at the time, Amelia made a triumphant return to the competition in week six, after Frankie Cocozza was thrown off the show for taking cocaine.
Amelia topped a public vote for one eliminated contestant to be given a second chance, and Kelly Rowland was forced to eat humble pie when she then sailed all the way through to the final.
She went on to finish third in the competition
After reaching the grand finale, Amelia dueted with Kelly on Tina Tuner’s ‘River Deep Mountain High’ in front of thousands at Wembley Arena.
It wasn’t enough to win it for her though, as she finished third behind Marcus Collins and eventual winners Little Mix, who disappeared never to be heard of again after the show ended (LOL, jk).
She went on to release a banger of a first single
After the show finished, Amelia was snapped up by record label bosses and released her first single ‘You Bring Me Joy’.
Produced by the people behind some of Girls Aloud’s biggest hits - Xenomania - the track was an instant hit, and reached number two in the UK charts in 2012.
Since then...
Amelia went to to open for Girls Aloud on their ‘Ten’ tour in 2013, as well as supporting Olly Murs on tour. But when her third single ‘Party’s Over’ only just managed to scrape into the top 40, her planned album failed to materialise.
Amelia has since gone on to launch a career in the theatre, appearing in touring production of ‘Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat’ in 2015.
She made the jump to the West End the following year, playing the female lead Whatsername in the musical ‘American Idiot’, which is based on the music of punk pop rockers Green Day.
She still continues to perform, and is set to play Tinkerbell in Maidstone’s Christmas pantomime of ‘Peter Pan’, opposite fellow ‘X Factor’ alum Lloyd Daniels and former ‘Hollyoaks’ actor James Sutton.