Nicola Roberts

Nicola Roberts was a pale, shy, gangly, 16-year-old redhead when she was plucked from a tough Liverpool council estate to perform live on Popstars: The Rivals, the nation's biggest TV talent show (and precursor to X Factor) in 2002. A few months later she was selected by public vote to become one fifth of Girls Aloud, and Nicola was on her way to four UK Number 1 singles and a string of huge hits as the band became Britain's most successful girl group since the Spice Girls. When the group went on hiatus in 2009, Nicola turned to some of the most esteemed producers in the world, including Diplo, Dimitri Tikovoi and indie rockers Metronomy to craft an edgier electro pop persona for her. It resulted in debut album Cinderella's Eyes (2010), a record full of eclectic rhythms, vibrant hooks and slick, modern pop that earned high praise from the critics and called "one of the finest pop albums of the year," by The Independent newspaper.