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Did Strictly star Fleur East win The X Factor?

The singer appeared on the show twice

strictly fleur east bbc
Nicky Morris
TV and film writer
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Strictly star Fleur East wowed the judges with her sizzling Samba last Saturday night, landing the top spot on the leaderboard with an impressive score of 39. 

MORE: Who is Strictly star Fleur East married to?

While there's no doubt that the 35-year-old is a gifted dancer, she is best known for her amazing singing voice and first made a name for herself on ITV's The X Factor. Read on to find out all about her time on the show…

WATCH: Strictly's Hamza Yassin shouts at Fleur East mid-dance

What year was Fleur East on The X Factor? 

Fleur made her first appearance on the singing show back in 2005 as part of the girl group Addictiv Ladies, alongside fellow members Nicola Owusu-Akontoh, Stephanie Yamson and Vivienne Umeh.

Sadly, the group were booted out of the competition in week one after finding themselves in the bottom two along with Chico Slimani. 

Fleur didn't give up on her singing dream, however, as she returned to the programme in 2014 when she was 26 years old, auditioning as a solo act. 

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Fleur East on The X Factor in 2005© Photo: Rex

Fleur first appeared on The X Factor in 2005

Did Fleur East win The X Factor? 

While Fleur East made it to the 2014 X Factor final, she didn't win the series. Her epic performance of One Republic's Something I Need wasn't quite enough to land her the top spot and she was announced as the runner-up to winner Ben Haenow. Despite Fleur being the hot favourite to win, she received 34.3% of the votes, compared to Ben's 57.2.

Fleur East dancing with Vito Coppola on Strictly© Photo: BBC

Fleur is partnered with Vito Coppola on Strictly

Losing the final didn't stop Fleur from enjoying a successful singing career, however, as she was quickly signed to Simon Cowell's record label Syco Music. Her debut album, Love, Sax and Flashbacks, was released in December the following year, with her lead single, Sax, reaching number three in the UK charts. Her second album, Fearless, was released in 2020. 

The singer went on to make various TV appearances, including on I'm A Celebrity… Get me Out Of Here…, This Morning and Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway.

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