Shropshire Star

X Factor Live in Birmingham tonight

It's one of the most popular shows of late winter.

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X Factor Live brings together all the reality stars who made their names on ITV's prime time show under one roof. All those who made us laugh, cringe, cry and sing along when the television behemoth aired last year.

Tonight, Birmingham's Genting Arena will welcome winner Matt Terry, Sam Lavery, Saara Aalto, Emily Middlemas, Ryan Lawri, the divisive Honey G, 5 After Midnight and Four of Diamonds.

The blockbuster show gives fans the chance to get up close and personal with stars that they voted for just before Christmas.

This year's show was won by Matt, with Saara in second and 5 After Midnight third.

But it also created other stars, including Honey G, who has become a household name. Her life has changed dramatically since the show: "Basically I have been touring the country non-stop. I have had loads and loads of gigs on.

"I've been doing TV appearances...basically, promoting my single. The gigs have been going so well. They love me everywhere and performing in front of loads of crowds everywhere I go has just been brilliant. I've had a really good response. All of the gigs are going amazing."

Honey has been a music fan throughout her life and decided to pursue her dream – even though she's 35, far older than most competitors.

"It's really strange. One of the last things my grandma said to me before she died – around four years ago – was that she wanted me to pursue a career in music. I kind of decided, I'm 35, I'm still single and I haven't fulfilled my career ambitions yet so I'll enter The X Factor.

Honey G was one of the most talked about contestants and she was glad to be seen in a largely positive light, if not able to please everyone with her style and vocals. "It was good," she adds. "Simon Cowell said 'you win when people are talking about you', and there were some weeks where they said I had broken the internet or I was trending on Twitter. To know that people are talking about me is amazing."

The competition's winner, Matt Terry, became an overnight star and his single, When Christmas Comes Around, went to No3. But Cowell has been so busy the two haven't caught up since the TV show. Terry said: "We haven't spoken at all. He always said if I ever needed him, I could speak to him.

"He's a lovely guy. He gave me this amazing opportunity so I'll always be grateful to him."

Terry is a former waiter who dazzled the crowds with a cover of Ben E King's Stand By Me. He's been working on an album, which will be out later this year.

Terry was overwhelmed by his success after beating Finnish singer Saara Aalto to clinch the coveted title. He said: "It's so overwhelming, I can't believe this is happening to me. It's something I've waited for, for such a long time, it's so amazing, thank you so much."

His relationship with his mentor, Nicole Scherzinger, was the key to his success.

"For me, since day one she's been there with open arms and made me feel I could go to her with anything. She's like 'I'm your big sister', and it's so refreshing to have that because I hit the jackpot with her.

"We are like the same person. We have the same mind, we think the same, we have the same ideas. We say the same words at the same time, it's really creepy. I think it was on the same day, we both had separate interviews and I was saying, 'Nicole is like my big sis', and she was saying, 'oh my god, he's like my little brother'. So yeah, we spoke about that and she said 'that's so weird, I said that about you today', and I said, 'no way, I just said that about you today!'.

"We just come up with the same things. It's just a really good relationship."

He'll be tuning in later this year to see what the crop of 2017 is like – and to see who becomes the new champion.

He said: "Honestly, man, do it and do it with all of your heart. Be yourself and show all of your personality, just give it everything you have and hopefully you get Nicole."

Matt didn't think he'd win the show, however, because his rival, Saara, was so good.

"Honestly I thought Saara had done it – she's one of the most incredible people I've ever met."

And yet he swept to victory with 48 per cent of the vote, against Saara's 40 per cent. And that has led to a wave of interest – and several marriage proposals via Twitter.

Terry previously worked as a waiter in Bromley, where he lives. He spent most of his younger years studying in sunny Spain.

Fans have dubbed him Louis Tomlinson's twin. But judge Simon Cowell didn't see the similarity with the One Direction singer immediately, instead likening him to fellow X Factor success story Olly Murs.

Terry's love life has been the subject of much speculation since his win. He was linked to fellow contestant Sam Lavery but ruled out romance.

He said: "Sam is six years younger than me. She is a cool girl but she's like a little sister to all of us boys, we all look after her."

Matt was also linked to none other than his mentor Nicole Scherzinger due to their flirty behaviour. And listening to him gush about her above you can easily see why the connection was made.

But he said in a previous interview: "I love it when Nicole flirts with me – it makes all my friends jealous." But he dismissed romance.

And when he later posted a snap of himself with a member of the production team, Demi Kaye, that started a fresh batch of romance rumours.

The 2016 edition of X Factor created a number of new stars – none more so than the Finnish singer Saara Aalto, who came second.

Saara had been dating Finnish singer Teemu Roivainen for nine years but left him for a superfan, Meri Sopanen, who watched her on The Voice of Finland.

She said: "I was in The Voice of Finland in 2012 and my girlfriend – fiancée now – watched the show, liked me a lot and sent me a fan message through Facebook.

She wrote, 'I have never, ever sent a message like this to anybody, but I just had this intuition that I have to send this to you'.

"I was like, 'that's so cute', and thought, 'what a nice-looking girl'. Then, after a year, she actually came to my concert and we met.

"We started talking and realised we just shared the same view of life and everything."

Saara was mentored by Sharon Osbourne, Ozzy's wife, and she forged a strong relationship with them. Even Saara's ex was pleased she progressed so far in X Factor. He harbours no ill-will towards her and is thrilled her career has taken off. He's even become friends with the girl who took his place and became engaged to his one-time love. Saara added: "He just loves my fiancée. We are like one happy family. It is a dream.

"We were together for nine years. He was my producer and band leader – we were together all the time."

By Andy Richardson

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