Star Facts
- Olly has a twin brother called Ben
- He’s a major footie fan and played semi-professionally for Witham Town
- Olly once appeared on the TV gameshow Deal or No Deal
- Before his X Factor success, Olly worked in a call centre
Biography:
Born in Witham, Essex, Olly has a twin brother called Ben and a sister called Fay. Attending Notley High School in Braintree, he loved football, going on to play semi-professionally for Witham Town. Despite being from Essex, he’s a Manchester United supporter.
Olly auditioned for the sixth series of X Factor in 2009, competing for first place against Joe McElderry, who ultimately won, and Jedward, who definitely didn’t. Along the way he gained sincere praise from Simon Cowell (which ain’t easy), dueted with Robbie Williams on his hit Angels and developed his trademark Ollie wiggle.
After he came second in the X Factor competition, Simon Cowell promptly signed Ollie to his Syco label and his cheery, breezy, debut single Please Don’t Let Me Go went straight to number one – prompting him to strip naked in heat! His second album is on the way, with his second single Heart Skips A Beat being released in August 2011.