Biography
X Factor 2010 finalist Cher Lloyd finished the competition in fourth place, having been kept in the competition by the judges the previous two weeks, when she sang for survival against Paije Ricardson and then Mary Byrne respectively.
The 17-year-old was born in Malvern, Worcestershire, but has gypsy blood running through her veins thanks to her mother Dina’s Romany ancestry. And yes, when she was at school, Cher Lloyd really did used to live in a second hand caravan parked in laybys around Wales, and suffered ‘pikey’ taunts from her classmates.
Cher studied performing arts at Dyson Perrins CE Sports College, and has three younger siblings – Josh, 15, and sisters Sophie, 14, and Rosie, 12. Her father’s name is Darren…
Although Cher Lloyd sailed through to bag fourth place in X Factor 2010, she had actually auditioned for the X Factor twice before. Both times previously Cher had sung ballads for the X Factor researchers, and never made it through to see the judges.
Having reinvented herself with a rap / hip hop twist to her performances, she dazzled the judges with her rendition of Turn My Swag On (the Keri Hilson version), although it’s been disputed whether the lyrics she claims that she added herself were actually her own words or those of another rapper called Swizz Beatz.
Either way, young Cher Lloyd made it through to the judges houses and was put through controversially to the live shows after she broke down not once, but twice in front of Cheryl Cole and will.i.am, suffering from a throat infection. She joined Katie Waissel, Rebecca Ferguson and Treyc Cohen in the Girls category, mentored by Cheryl Cole.
Her best performance was arguably in week four, when she sang the Shakespeare’s Sister song Stay, and didn’t actually rap.