Chico Slimani is one of X Factor's most famous contestants.
The singer shot to stardom on season two of the ITV talent competition in 2005. Chico divided the judges at the audition stage when Simon Cowell walked out during his rendition of If I Ever Fall in Love by Shai and Kiss by Prince and the Revolution.
However, Louis Walsh and Sharon Osbourne were impressed by the routine and voted Chico through to the judges houses. He was 34 years old during his X Factor stint and was mentored by Sharon in the over-25s category.
READ MORE: Britain's Got Talent George Sampson's hair transplant and life 14 years after show
Chico progressed through to the live shows and stayed in the competition until the quarter final stage. He remained in the public eye following his time in the show and released his debut single, It's Chico Time, in February 2006.
Chico first performed the song on the X Factor live shows and it skyrocketed to the top of the UK Singles Charts upon release. The singer altered the lyrics in 2010 ahead of the World Cup in support of the national team titled It's England Time.
Chico is now 51 years old and recently hit out at X Factor during an interview on TalkRadio in April 2021. He said: "It gave me the chance to earn a good living, I’ve been around the country entertaining the masses, so much has come from that. I can’t complain because I again, I knew what it was, they use you, or abuse you, and you use that platform to go on.
"They don’t care about you. You’re a commodity; you are as good as the money you’re going to make them. That is it. You are completely replaceable and as I said it’s a conveyor belt. If you’re not going to do it, someone else will take your place to do it."
Chico was born Yousseph Slimani and was raised on his family farm in Morocco before he moved back to his birthplace, Bridgend in Wales. The singer worked a number of careers as he pursued his showbiz dream.
According to the Mirror, he worked as a hairdresser and an electrician before he became a stripper. He said in 2005: "There's no denying I was a stripper. I went round the world. I did my thing and shook my dingaling. What can I say? You are doing a job when it's money for nothing and ladies for free. I loved every minute.
"Then I was exposing myself, but now I'm expressing myself on X Factor, from the physical to the musical."
Chico was arrested in Barbados when he performed a ladies only show with his brother in a nightclub. However, they were discharged and the island eventually changed its exposure law. He joked: "Barbados wasn't ready for Chico - they had to change a law to accommodate me!"
Since his time on the X Factor, Chico has competed on Dancing On Ice and toured with the Osmonds in Boogie Nights. Away from his career in showbiz, he runs the Rainbow Child Foundation charity and has also created his own exercise regimen named Block Fit.
The fitness fanatic was rocked in 2018 when he suffered a stroke because of a blood clot on his brain. He has now made a full recovery, but relived his terrifying health scare on an episode of Loose Women.
He said: "I got to the car park and i thought, I was in the middle of a car park alone... and i thought i am just about to die. I knew by then this was it, this was the moment. Everything was happening in the here and now. And I thought I have not fulfilled my mission.
"I looked at the families, I had a picture of my daughter and I could see her in a video getting married and I go, I am not going to be there. And I saw pictures of my son, and I go am going I am not going to be a grandad.
"What happened is II had to formulate a sentence that I would day to this power. What am I going to say you know? I just looked up and said: 'I'm 47, I really don't want to go just yet cos I don't feel like I have fulfilled my mission yet.'
"If I close my eyes and don't wake up again I just want you to know I done my best. I woke up an hour and half later and I just thought 'wow this is amazing. Thank you for this chance but I was so hungry."
Receive newsletters with the biggest and breaking TV and showbiz news by signing up here
