The X-Factor Wiki
Don't have an account?
Register
Advertisement
Register
in: The X Factor UK, Contestants, The X Factor UK Contestants,
and 20 more

Ranking of The X Factor UK Winners

Sign in to edit
X Factor UK Winners

This is the ranking of the 15 winners from The X Factor UK, mainly based on their success after the show.

Worst:[]

15.Steve Brookstein

2004 winner,jpeg

Steve Brookstein with his mentor, Simon Cowell

Steve was the first ever winner of The X Factor UK and was Simon's first ever win. He however didn't necessarily have the most successful X Factor journey - had to audition twice to get through to bootcamp since both Louis Walsh and Sharon Osbourne believed he didn't have what it took to succeed in his first audition. After being sent to the live shows, with Simon as his mentor, Steve went on to win the show, even though both Louis and Sharon made it clear that they weren't fans of him - particularly Sharon who even went as far to call him out for being a 'fake'. Post the show, Steve's relationship with Simon crashed and burned - leading him to being dropped by the label, despite his debut album, "Heart and Soul" being a success - reaching No. 1 on the charts. Simon even admitted that G4 (who came 2nd, mentored by Louis) were the true winners of the first series, since they were able to have more success than Steve with their careers post the show. Steve since has used his social media to attack the show, even going as far to make a dig at Simon's mother, who passed away in 2015. With his dirty attitude and lack of music success, Steve Brookstein is the worst winner of The X Factor UK.

14.Leon Jackson

2007 winner,jpeg

Leon Jackson with his mentor, Dannii Minogue

Leon's win was a very strange case. Unlike other winners, he was never a favourite to win his series - runner-up Rhydian Roberts (who was also in the Boys category with Dannii as his mentor too) was seen as the one to go all the way so his win was a huge shock, especially since during his time in the live shows, he got a lot of criticism almost weekly, particularly from Simon Cowell and Louis Walsh. As the live shows progressed, Simon admitted in one week that he was quite surprised that Leon was able to make it far in the competition. He was still able to win the judges over little by little as the weeks went by, although Louis still didn't think he was anywhere as good as Rhydian. When the final arrived and the results were open, many fans found themselves unable to vote for Rhydian and called Leon's win a fix. In fairness to him, he was able to have another Top 10 UK single the following year after his win) while he was still signed with Simon's label, something most recent winners have trouble with - most of them don't even reach a No.1 with their winning single, like Leon did. That still didn't stop Leon from being dropped in 2009, and he has failed to become anymore relevant than he was before. The most recent thing he did was help write a song for The Voice act - Vince Kidd. Due to him fading into obscurity, Leon is often seen as The X Factor's biggest flops ever, even was voted 2nd in the poll of reality TV flops back in 2010, only losing to Series 1 winner Steve Brookstein!

Terrible:[]

13.Dalton Harris

2018 winner

Dalton Harris with his mentor, Louis Tomlinson

Like most winners, Dalton had a very successful X Factor journey - never delivered a weak performance, always received praise, and standing ovations from the judges and audience. He is also known to be the first ever foreign winner, which such other foreign acts (etc Andrea Faustini and Saara Aalto) failed to accomplish. Unfortunately, the male winners curse hit Dalton as well - aside from his guest performance on The X Factor: The Band, he came quite irrelevant and not much was heard from him aside rumours, which claims that he was dropped by Simon in 2020, which to be honest, was expected. Sadly, the most famous acts from this series are Anthony Russell and Danny Tetley but not for their music success - but for their criminal convictions! It's a shame how Dalton didn't have a successful career after the show when he should have!

12.Matt Terry

2016 winner

Matt Terry with his mentor, Nicole Scherzinger

Ever since his first audition, Matt became one of the favourites to go all the way in the thirteenth series. He did have problems at the Six Chair Challenge but more than made up for it with his Judges' Houses performance. When the live shows began, Matt impressed in the first 4 weeks and was a firm favourite to win but from live show 5 onwards, his live show performances weren't very consistent and his role as the favourite started to be taken from Saara Aalto, especially when he was in the bottom 2 in the semi final with Emily Middlemas but was saved by the judges, when only Emily's mentor Simon Cowell voted to send him home. In the final, Matt competed against Saara and 5 After Midnight and went on to win the whole thing, giving Nicole her 2nd win. Unlike other winners, Matt didn't immediately sign to Simon's label, since he saw Matt as a younger Olly Murs so he signed to Olly's label instead - RCA Records. Unfortunately, Matt's debut album missed out the Top 10 and became one of the worst placing solo debut albums out of any winner. Therefore, he was quickly dropped by his label in 2018. After losing his record deal, he started staring in a production of Madagascar - The Musical and has not done anything to see find himself in the charts and can't be rated any higher.

11.Ben Haenow

2014 winner,jpeg

Ben Haenow with his mentor, Simon Cowell

To be honest, Ben's win was a bit of surprise, especially considering during his time in the live shows, he barely went a week from getting even a little bit of criticism, particularly from Mel B for lack of versatilely in his voice and didn't particularly stand out till he got to the live shows. It was Fleur East, who most fans believed had the most potential to be an international star. Nevertheless, Ben was still a very talented man and deserved his victory at the end of the day. Unfortunately, the poor sales of Ben's 2nd single led him to being dropped by Simon's label - just a year over his win. Ever since, he has tried to make it independent but has failed to find himself hitting the charts again. Disappointing!

Bad:[]

10.Rak-Su

2017 winner,jpeg

Rak-Su with their mentor, Simon Cowell

Although The X Factor UK has produced successful boy bands - JLS, One Direction and to a much less extent, Union J, there has never been a boyband who won the show till Rak-Su in 2017. Not only are Rak-Su known for being the first boyband to win the show, but they were also known for performing amazing original songs in the majority of their X Factor journey. After watching them tour with Little Mix, many would think as them as the new heirs of 1D, only for them to part way with Simon's label less than a year after their win (alongside Little Mix after being signed for 7 years) and were also dropped by their 2nd record label, due to the lack of chart success. If any winner should have been bigger, it should have been these guys!

9.Sam Bailey

2013 winner

Sam Bailey with her mentor, Sharon Osbourne

Sam had probably the best room audition in the history of The X Factor UK - having the only audition where all judges responded with a standing ovation. Although there were other favourites in her season (etc Tamera Foster and Nicholas McDonald), very few fans doubted that Sam would win and was Sharon's first and only win. She even named her mentor as her daughter's godmother. After her win, Sam was able to support Beyonce in her 2014 tour. Unfortunately, Simon Cowell was more interested in Tamera than Sam, much to the anger of Sharon. Just over a year after her win, Simon dropped Sam from his label, which she saw coming.

8.Louisa Johnson

2015 winner

Louisa Johnson with her mentor, Rita Ora

Despite only being 17 during her time on the show, Louisa had one of the biggest voices in her series and continued to impress from her auditions to the live shows, with little to no criticism from the judges. She competed with Reggie 'N' Bollie and Ché Chesterman in the final, when she duetted with her mentor Rita and finally won the show. She replaced Joe McElderry (who was 18 in his series) as the show's youngest winner ever. Although Louisa had a very successful X Factor journey, her journey post the show didn't go as well. Her winner single was the first winner's single not to become No. 1 in the UK charts on Christmas, which wasn't a great start in her career. She however was able to have a successful collaboration with the band, Clean Bandit and both artists even duetted with 5 After Midnight in their duet performance in the final of their series (the series after Louisa's year). Unfortunately, in 2018, Louisa was let go by Simon Cowell, without even creating an album with Syco and not much has been heard from her since in terms of her music, but more about her sexy body transformation - often posting images of herself on social media to express herself.

OK:[]

7.Matt Cardle

2010 winner,jpeg

Matt Cardle with his mentor, Dannii Minogue

Matt did very well in his X Factor journey - able to top the public votes every week except from the first week - that week was won by Mary Byrne and having his signature falsetto vocals. Sadly, his career after the show didn't go so well. He apparently had a troubled relationship with Simon Cowell so separated from his label in 2012. He however has been able to have a successful West End career but still not giving up on his recording career - ended up with 2 top 10 albums. Despite being the winner, there were 3 acts who were able to have much more success than Matt post the show. Rebecca Ferguson (who placed 2nd) had an averagely successful career while Cher Lloyd (who placed 4th) did very well for herself. Despite placing 3rd, the most known act of this series is One Direction, who went to become the most successful act of The X Factor UK!

6.Joe McElderry

2009 winner,jpeg

Joe McElderry with his mentor, Cheryl Cole

Ever since the auditions, it was Danyl Johnson who was the favourite to win the sixth series of The X Factor. When it came to the live shows, that role went to Olly Murs. Joe himself was one of the most talented vocalists but didn't particularly stand out until the seventh week of the live shows, when he sang "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me", for George Michael week, which earned him a standing ovation from all four judges, which was also the very first time that all four judges gave a standing ovation in the entire series. From that week to the final, Joe topped the public votes every week and finally won the show, giving his mentor, Cheryl her second win - two years in a row. Unfortunately, like many male winners, Joe's career after the show originally faltered (many believe due to his generic personality) but he was able to have more success with his 2nd label Decca and currently has 4 Top 10 albums - more than most winners! However, Joe also went on to have a successful and highly praised musical theatre career. Similar to Matt Cardle, despite Joe winning his respective season, there were 3 acts from this season who are more recognised than him - Olly (2nd), Stacey Solomon (3rd) and John & Edward (6th) - who were all the highest-placing act of their respective mentors (Olly for Simon Cowell, Stacey for Dannii Minogue and John & Edward for Louis Walsh). Stacey went to enjoy a career as a successful TV presenter. John & Edward originally became this series' most popular act after the series, especially in their home country Ireland but were eclipsed by Olly, who became this series' most successful act as a singer and a TV presenter.

Good:[]

5.Shayne Ward

2005 winner,jpeg

Shayne Ward with his mentor, Louis Walsh

Although Louis has served on the judging panel for 13 years, he has only being able to win once and that was with Shayne back in the second series. Shayne was often described as the full package - great voice, great looks and great performer - often branded as the 'UK Justin Timberlake'. He was also quite a ladies' man during his run. He even had a flirting-banter relationship with Sharon Osbourne. Louis later became Shayne's manager after his victory and had high expectations for his career, especially after Steve Brookstein's failure. Unlike most male winners, Shayne actually had a long-term successful music career until 2011, when he was finally dropped by Simon. He recently moved to acting, staring in Coronation Street. He still hadn't given up on singing - last year, he released a cover on the song, "Somewhere Over the Rainbow", (a song he performed in the final of his series, which played a huge contribution to his win), to raise money to support the NHS. Although he didn't reach the level of international stardom that his former mentor Louis expected him to, Shayne Ward is still much more remembered that most recent winners, which says a lot!

Great:[]

4.Alexandra Burke

2008 winner,jpeg

Alexandra Burke with her mentor, Cheryl Cole

Despite winning the 5th series of The X Factor UK, that was not the first time Alexandra appeared on the show - she made her first appearance in the 2nd series and made it to the Judges Houses in the 16-24s category but was sent home by Louis Walsh, who went on to win the series with Shayne Ward. Although she came back stronger in 2008, she was in a tough position since the Girls category that year was the strongest Girls category in the history of the show - her fellow category members, Laura White and Diana Vickers, who made it to the live shows with Alexandra were both favourites to win. Laura was the original favourite but was controversially eliminated in the fifth week, so Diana became the new favourite. Alexandra however continued to progress so much that she became the new favourite around the quarter-final. Her duet with Beyonce on the song, "Listen" is regarded one of, if not, the best duets in the history of the show. She then went on to win the show, beating her close friends, JLS, who finished 2nd. Many believed Alexandra would have had the same level of success like Leona but sadly, it didn't work so well. Although her 1st album was successful, 2nd album after her win performed poorly and she was dropped by Simon Cowell. Many people would say JLS were the true winners of this series, due to having more success after the show. In 2011, she filled in as a guest judge for Kelly Rowland in the fourth week of the live shows as Kelly was absent due to illness. She went on to have a successful musical theater career. She was then seen performing in Strictly Come Dancing in 2017, alongside Aston Merrygold from JLS and finished runner-up with her partner. She later signed a deal with Decca Records but was dropped after her third album failed to make the top 10. Despite all this, Alexandra Burke is still a top 5 X Factor UK winner!

3.James Arthur

2012 winner

James Arthur with his mentor, Nicole Scherzinger

James is the best and most charming male winner. James' first audition, where he sang a spectacular acoustic rendition of "Young" by Tulisa, is most viewed first audition on any winner, and received a complete standing ovation from the audience and judges including Tulisa. He went all the way to the live shows, with his mentor, Nicole Scherzinger, who was mentoring the Boys category in 2012. Throughout the live shows, James was always praised for his unique voice and his ability to change songs into his own complete rendition - he barely got any criticism from the judges, which is very rare, even amongst the winners. He became one of the favourites to win. In the seventh live show results, he was in the bottom two with Ella Henderson, who was also a favourite. This caused a massive outrage amongst the judges and the public. Even Louis Walsh, who was the longest-serving judge, called seeing both James and Ella the biggest shock in his years of doing The X Factor. Fortunately, James advanced to the quarter-final when the result went to deadlock. From the quarter-final to the end, James won the public vote, until he finally won the show - beating fellow category member, Jahméne Douglas, who was also being mentored by Nicole. He was the first winner to ever have been in the bottom two and his winner single of "Impossible" became one of the fastest-selling singles. After the show, James' career didn't get off to a great start. He used homophobic words when in a rap battle with Mickey Worthless. This caused controversy amongst the LGBT community, including Lucy Spraggan, who participated in the same series of James. This angered Simon Cowell so much that he dropped him from his label and unlike other winners, it wasn't because of lack of chart success but attitude issues. Not much was heard from James until 2016 when he made a tremendous comeback with a new song, "Say You Won't Let Go", which became No. 1 in the UK and was super popular in the USA - this made James the first male winner to ever have 2 No. 1s. Unlike other winners, James was re-signed with Syco and is still active with his music. He was even asked to duet with series 15 winner, Dalton Harris for his winning single, "Power of Love", a song he once sang when he was on the show. Not only is he one of the Top 100 most listened artists on Spotify but James Arthur is the most successful solo male winner of The X Factor UK!

Best:[]

2.Leona Lewis

2006 winner,jpeg

Leona Lewis with her mentor, Simon Cowell

Despite appearing in the early third series of The X Factor UK, Leona is without question one of the biggest success stories to come out of this show. When she was on the show, her magnificent voice was often compared to huge vocal divas, such as, Celine Dion, Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston. Despite her talent, her mentor Simon was still concerned because according to him, girls don't tend to win shows like The X Factor. Luckily, Leona was able to prove her mentor wrong and went on to win the show, beating fellow category member Ray Quinn (who was also being mentored by Simon), although many, including Louis Walsh claimed that Simon had more faith in Leona, despite his claims to the contrary. Not only was she the first ever female winner, but Leona was the first one to actually become an international superstar - Steve's career faltered quite early while Shayne still did quite well but couldn't compare with Leona. Throughout the years, Simon showed fondness of Leona, even admitting when she was on the show, that she was the best act he ever mentored. Leona however separated with Simon's label in 2014, in order to protect her career when Syco was signing more artists but assured that didn't change anything between her and Simon. Like most winners, she began a career in theatre, especially after being dropped by her second label despite continuously being featured in tours of other artists. She has been called to guest judge on the show many times - even was a full judge on The X Factor: The Band, alongside Simon and Nicole Scherzinger. Although she is no longer hitting the charts as she used to in the early years after her win, Leona Lewis is still the most successful solo female artist to come from the show.

1.Little Mix

2011 winner

Little Mix with their mentor, Tulisa

Before 2011, girlbands never did quite well on the show, especially since the Groups category was often mentored by Louis Walsh, who doesn't do very well when it comes to girlbands. The eighth series changed everything. Jesy Nelson, Perrie Edwards, Jade Thirlwall and Leigh-Anne Pinnock all auditioned successfully as soloists but were rejected at bootcamp. The judges, particularly Kelly Rowland believed that they were still too good to let go and they were put together as a 4-piece group and sent to 'Judges Houses'. Luckily for girls, the Groups category for once wasn't mentored by either Simon Cowell (who wasn't a judge in the eighth series of the show) or Louis (who was assigned the Over 25s category that year) but was mentored by a female and new judge, Tulisa, who chose them in her final 4 groups. Already in the first live show, new judge Gary Barlow called them the best girlband in the history of the show. They were originally called Rhythmix but changed to Little Mix, as Rhythmix was the name of a music charity. Unlike previous girlbands, Little Mix were able to progress past the seventh live show (the previous longest-surviving girlbands - The Conway Sisters and Hope lasted until the seventh live show in their respective seasons) and then became the new favourite to go all the way, replacing Amelia Lily, who replaced Janet Devlin, Misha B, and Marcus Collins herself. They went on to finally win the show, becoming the first ever group to achieve this goal. Post the show, the girls went to become international stars and one of The X Factor's biggest success stories ever with high-selling records and singles. Although the girls separated with Simon's label in 2018, they still carried on strong with new label - RCA records. In 2020, Little Mix had a show called, Little Mix The Search when they put together soloists into bands (like they were when they were on the show) and the winners would get to support them in their Confetti Concert. A few months later, Jesy decided to leave the band to focus on improving her mental health but eventually embarked on a solo career while the rest of the girls continued as a trio for the next two years. Despite Jesy's exit and the band currently on a well-deserved break, Little Mix are without doubt the best winners of The X Factor UK!

Community content is available under CC-BY-SA unless otherwise noted.
Advertisement

Fan Feed

More The X-Factor Wiki