The Islanders didn’t hold back with their Sean Mendes cover on last night’s X Factor: Celebrity!
Their performance of There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back was met with a positive response from judges, even prompting Nicole and Louis to shuffle in their seats.
Simon’s praises were a little more gentle, as he said: ‘I think for a first audition, bearing in mind where you came from, it was a good performance but it’s finding your distinct sound.’
As we wait with bated breath for next week’s episode, let’s take a look at the islanders, their performance backgrounds, and what they’ve been doing since leaving the villa.
Wes Nelson
Wes first appeared on Love Island last year, where he finished in fourth place together with partner Megan Barton Hanson.
In January, he took part in the eleventh series of Dancing on Ice where he finished as a runner-up.
At around the same time, he and Megan broke up amid tensions between Megan and Wes’ skating partner, Vanessa Bauer.
The 21-year-old started dating 2019 Love Islander, Arabella Chi, in August.
Wes told the Metro.co.uk that a musical career would have been his ‘next step’ had X Factor not came along.
He said: ‘I think it’s such a hard pill for people to swallow that we have such a passion for music.’
‘No one has ever understood that and why would they when they’ve never seen it. Eyal was in a pop band from a young age, Samira’s been on the West End, Zara’s got a studio in her house, I was going to pursue a musical career had this not come along and now we’ve all formed together.’
Prior to Love Island, Wes was an Electrical and Nuclear Systems Design Engineer, and had no (known) professional singing experience.
Samira Mighty
Samira also appeared in 2018’s Love Island, before quitting halfway through to be reunited with her former partner on the show, Frankie Foster.
Their romance was short-lived however, and they split a few weeks later after Frankie was spotted cheating on Samira.
Prior to Love Island, she performed in several West End shows including Mamma Mia! and Dreamgirls.
Samira also featured as Debutante in the 2017 live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast.
Since leaving Love Island, she’s been lying relatively low, but has spoken openly about struggling to handle the fame she gained after leaving the show.
She told Cosmopolitan magazine at the time: ‘On my down days, I lay in bed until 3pm thinking: ‘What am I doing? I hate my life. I miss having a routine.’
Zara McDermott
22-year-old Zara joined Wes and Samira in the villa for the 2018 Love Island series.
Zara spent ten days in the villa, where she coupled up with then Adam Collard.
They broke up seven months later, with Zara calling Made in Chelsea star Sam Thompson her boyfriend these days.
Former government advisor Zara has no formal performing experience but has previously spoken about her love of singing.
In a series of Instagram posts earlier this year she wrote: ‘I usually try not to let things get to me but right now feel really upset. I put up a video of me singing last night. I’ve only done that a few times in my life because I have a fear of singing in public which stemmed from when I was bullied at school.
‘I am trying so hard every day to overcome my fear of singing to people as I love singing and taught myself the piano from the age of 11. I sang in the villa and all my friends in there gave me so much confidence.’
Eyal Booker
24-year-old Eyal joined the others for the fourth season of Love Island, where he failed to find love after initially partnering with Hayley Hughes.
After leaving Love Island, Eyal joined the 2018 series of Celebs Go Dating and has appeared on MTV Cribs, as well as on several modelling campaigns.
Prior to entering the villa, Eyal was no stranger to the stage, having been a member of a pop band, EverYoung, which formed in 2012.
Their single You Got Me entered the UK Indie Chart at number 30.
Eyal also attended the prestigious Sylvia Young Theatre school and made an appearance on Zara Larson’s Lush Life video.
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