Britain's Got Talent is back on our screens, with the nation watching 15 winners been crowned champion since it launched in 2007.
We've seen the likes of Susan Boyle give Amanda Holden the "biggest wake up call ever", the incredible moves of Diversity and Spelbound wowing millions and, more recently, Lost Voice Guy's brilliant sense of humour causing laughs around the nation.
None of them would have been there, though, if the country hadn't fallen in love with a Welsh opera singer way back in the first series.
Paul Potts is known for being the first ever winner of the hit ITV show.
In 2007, he stepped onto the stage and stunned then-judges Simon Cowell, Amanda and Piers Morgan with his rendition of Nessun Dorma.
He had been working in the Carphone Warehouse when he first performed at the auditions, but has gone on to become a globe-trotting celeb in the aftermath of winning the show.
We take a look at his humble beginnings and where he is now.
Glorious mansion
Paul, originally from Port Talbot in Wales, still lives in the bayside town.
Although he has performed in places like Sydney, Australia, New York, the Philippines and Barcelona, the singer and his Swansea-born wife Julie-Ann, who he met on the internet, seem to have settled in Port Talbot for the rest of their lives.
They bought a 1930s villa called Sunray in the town for almost £500,000 in 2008, a year after his success on the show.
They remain there happily to this day, with Paul estimated to have a $10 million net worth.
Biopic film
In 2013, Paul's life story was made into a biopic.
One Chance, named after Paul first studio album, saw James Corden play the opera singer and was a rom-com, which also saw appearances from Julie Walters and Colm Meaney as Paul's parents.
Film review website Rotten Tomatoes describes the flick as: "Predictable and sentimental, yet thoroughly agreeable, One Chance is an unapologetic crowd-pleaser that achieves its admittedly modest goals."
Masked Singer appearance
Paul could've been content with just the one reality show victory, but he's gone on to appear in a couple of other talent shows around the globe when he's found the free time from his busy career.
In 2019, he appeared on America's Got Talent: The Champions, where he was reunited with Simon, who is on the judging panel Stateside too.
There, he beat off other former BGT winners like Ashleigh and Pudsey, Lost Voice Guy and Tokio Myers as well as global hits Tape Face and Piff the Magic Dragon to make the top 12.
There, he was eliminated - but his quest for success wasn't over.
Earlier in 2022, he appeared on the German edition of The Masked Singer.
Donning a giant Koala suit, Paul made it to the third show before being found out by the judges.
He was the UK's only representative in the competition.
Forgiving school bullies
He was badly bullied from the age of seven to when he left school, and his teeth were broken when he was a teen running away from his tormentors.
A few years before he found fame, some of the bullies contacted Paul to apologise for the way they treated him.
Despite the misery of what he’d been through, Paul, who has been married ears to wife Julie-Ann since 2003, decided to forgive them.
He told The Mirror earlier this year: "You give the abuse more voice by holding onto it too long and not letting go of it.
"Bullies don’t just affect part of your youth, it shapes part of who you are as a person.
"I wouldn’t want to go through what I went through as a teen, but at the same time it gave me the armour I need for what I do now."
