X Factor runner up Olly Murs seemed bound for Butlins. Now he’s a million-selling pop star.
At the time, Murs seemed destined for Butlins. Instead, however, like those other X Factor losers One Direction (third in 2010), he went on to far outshine the winner (Joe McElderry, currently playing Burnley). His detractors say he sounds like a Jamiroquai/Maroon 5 cover band, but that hasn’t stopped him selling 13 million records – including four number-one singles and three number-one albums – and amassing a huge back catalogue of catchy, mainly ska-and-funk-influenced hits, such as Troublemaker (co-written with Take That’s Steve Robson) and Heart Skips a Beat (featuring hip-hoppers Rizzle Kicks).