Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

X-Factor canned: The Dundonian who left the judges squirming and the Fifer who wowed them

Jade from Fife was on the show three times.
Jade from Fife was on the show three times.

As ITV announced that the X-Factor will not be returning to UK screens after it took an official hiatus in 2020, we take a look back at two of Tayside and Fife’s most notable contestants, one for all the right reasons and one just for making us laugh.

The series was created in 2004 by music mogul Simon Cowell – who also served as one of its judges for 12 seasons through its 17 year history- and brought acts like Little Mix, Olly Murs and One Direction to stardom.

But for every headline act, there was a supporting cast.

Some more memorable than others.

Colin Will

Who can forget Colin who burst on to our screens during the fourth season of the X-Factor which was aired in 2007?

At the time the 43-year-old was a gas engineer with Dundee City Council and citied having the Christmas number one as his dream.

Gas engineer Colin Will auditioned for the fourth season of X Factor however left the judges far from impressed.

He was incredibly sure of his singing abilities, so sure in fact that before heading to the audition – where he would face Louis Walsh, Dannii Minogue, Sharon Osbourne and Simon Cowell – he headed to the bookies and put a £1 bet on his eventual win, with odds of 5000/1.

Colin shows off his betting slip giving odds of 5000/1 to win.

His confidence continued as he entered the audition room and when Louis asked if he was good enough to win Colin answered: “Yeah, ultimately I am excellent.

“Sorry to say that but I am.”

The wannabe star then took off his shoes to enable him to perform to the best of his abilities.

Colin performing for the judges.

He erupted in to a performance of Sweet’s hit Blockbuster, which left the judges looking on bewildered at what was going on in front of them, complete with a long pause that left everyone involved looking slightly uncomfortable.

Unfortunately for Colin, the audition would be the end of his number one dreams with all four judges saying no to him continuing on to the next round.

Not letting it break his spirit though Colin left saying: “Oh well, it’s not to be.”

 

Jade Richards

Someone who was a lot more successful in the competition though was Buckhaven songbird Jade Richards who first auditioned in 2011.

At just 21-years-old Jade reduced judges Kelly Rowland and Louis Walsh to tears with her emotional, heartfelt performance of Adele’s smash hit ballad Someone Like You.

Talking to the judges about why she wanted to take part in the X Factor, Jade said: “Most people where I stay don’t do much at all so this would hopefully give me the boost that I need to do something.”

After her strong performance Jade made it through to the judges’ houses where she performed a strong rendition of I Can’t Make You Love Me in front of mentor Kelly Rowland and guest judge Jennifer Hudson.

But it wasn’t enough to convince Kelly to put her through to the live shows and she was sent home with Kelly telling Jade: “When I saw you the first time you moved me to tears because you come from so much emotion – that’s magical.

“I was wondering: ‘Will Jade make each week different? Will she grow?’

“I know how this would change your life, your family’s life.

“I want to give you that opportunity – but I can’t take you through, I’m sorry. ”

Jade added: “I’m gutted. I’ve probably just blown the best chance I’ll ever have.”

Following the shock exit a petition was started to get the singer back to the live stages.

However it was unsuccessful – but it didn’t put Jade off.

She was back the following year though, auditioning with Amy Winehouse’s Love is a Losing Game.

Although it was another emotional performance, Jade didn’t get further than the boot camp stage and once again she was left disappointed.

Third time lucky?

After following a strict exercise and healthy eating regime and replacing her jet black hair with long caramel blonde extensions, the judges hardly recognised Jade when she returned to the audition room for the third time in 2013.

This time the judges for season 10 were Sharon Osbourne, Louis Walsh, Gary Barlow and Nicole Scherzinger.

Speaking after her audition where her cover of Bruno Mars’ When I was your Man impressed audiences she said: “I owed it to myself to give it another shot but if it doesn’t work out this time, I won’t audition again.

Jade at the judges houses in 2013.

“I feel like I rushed back last year and my voice wasn’t at its best but now I’m hoping it’s my time to shine.

“Gary said it was great to see me again and commented on my voice.

“He’s my favourite judge and it was great to get some feedback from him.

“Sharon was nice too.”

It wasn’t just audiences she impressed though.

The judges once again gave her four yeses and she was back at the judges’ houses, just one step away from making it to the live shows.

It was then that disaster struck once again as she was booted off the show by Nicole Scherzinger.

Jade Richards’ journey came to an end at judge Nicole Scherzinger’s home as she failed to reach the live shows for a third time.

All wasn’t lost though as just days later the singer scooped a deal with a Glasgow-based record label, The Boombox, to produce her first album.

Producers at the label had previously worked with global megastars, including Muse, Radiohead and Michael Jackson.

Jade said: “Boombox just spotted me on X Factor – and that just shows what a great platform it is to be discovered.

“It was really nice for somebody to take an interest in my music, and we are starting on the album as soon as possible.”

Jade was the first artist to be signed to the new Boombox record label and was snapped up just 24 hours after her final appearance on the show.

Jade can be heard most recently on her Youtube channel showing that she isn’t giving up on her dreams just yet.

Maybe one day she will be back on our screens – unlike the X Factor.