Watching the programme again, we can see a burgeoning star in the making. Olly flirts with fellow contestants, previews some dance moves on the set’s Walk of Wealth and takes some risks. He went on the show to win some money for his unwell mum but, sadly, his efforts were not rewarded. Turning down the mystery banker’s offer of some £22,000 at one point, he ended up with a paltry tenner. But Olly was not downhearted and Noel Edmonds, having no idea of what was round the corner, uttered some words which seem prophetic now. ‘Every now and again we meet a special person. You do not have failure written over you.’
Olly was philosophical about his performance on a show that, after all, is so often down to pure chance. ‘At the time winning the £10 note wasn’t my highlight,’ he recalled in 2011, ‘but it’s made me the person I am today. I’ve come out on the other side.’
Olly’s efforts at conquering TV had hit a wall – and so had his days as a footballer, at least for now. In late 2008, the effects of an old injury on the football pitch led to him needing an operation. He had damaged one of the four ligaments in his knee during a game and so now underwent keyhole surgery. Unable to play soccer at all for five months, he used some of the money earned by Small Town Blaggers to spend some recovery time on the other side of the world.
Olly’s trip travelling around Australia would be both ‘an incredible adventure’ and a directionless period of his life. He described it as a time ‘when my life was at quite a low. I didn’t know who I wanted to be, what I wanted to do.’ But though he had no idea of where his future lay, he told MTV Australia in 2012 that it acted as a time of reflection and soul-searching for him: ‘I just thought Australia was a great way out of the UK and a chance for me to rebuild some bridges and try and figure out where I’m gonna go with my life. I had three great months, came back and just felt really energised, like I could take on the world.’
He was on the verge of extending his stay but decided against it. From thousands of miles away, he had been keeping an eye on the 2008 series of the British X Factor and, specifically, one of its competing acts. They would fail to beat Alexandra Burke in the final but vocal quartet JLS showed that they might have the potential to outgrow the programme and to succeed in their own right. This they would do, in time selling out a tour and scoring number-one hits. For Louis Walsh, they turned out to be 2008’s ‘real winners. I gave them heart and soul, everything. I worked so hard for them.’
Olly returned to Britain, vowing to try for X Factor a third time in the spring of 2009. He told hardly anyone of his immediate plans at the time, but those close to him could tell there was a newfound determination in him. ‘It was a turning point for him,’ commented Ben Murs of his twin’s time ‘down under’. ‘He grew up out there and his confidence bloomed. He went away a boy and came back a man.’
In the first week of May 2009, just one week before he turned 25 years old, Olly Murs was one of thousands who got up at the crack of dawn to travel to the O2 Arena near Greenwich in south-east London. He had never before made it past this first stage of The X Factor but, on this occasion, choosing Stevie Wonder rather than Disney or Paolo Nutini, coupled with a bit more experience, found favour with the programme’s researchers and producers. He was invited to perform at Stage 2 of the audition process on 25 June in front of Simon Cowell, Louis Walsh, Cheryl Cole and Dannii Minogue. And this would be part of the new-look twist to the series – an audition in front of a live audience. It would be a baptism of fire and he would more than rise to the occasion.
There was little about Olly Murs’ first 25 years that seemed in any way out of the ordinary. Even as a footballer, he was good enough to reach semi-professional level and regularly score goals for a local side but not to reach the national and international level of recognition achieved by heroes of his like David Beckham. Yet these unexceptional early years, spent both on the football pitch and in call-centre offices, were to give him an insight into hard work and perseverance. Any rewards were not easily won. His low-key career experiences would be invaluable for the life-changing events that lay ahead.
After passing Stage 2 of The X Factor, by auditioning in front of Louis Walsh, Dannii Minogue, Cheryl Cole and Simon Cowell, plus an excitable studio audience, Olly progressed to Stage 3 – what was known as ‘bootcamp’. The judges had to reduce their long list of favoured candidates to just 24 – six acts in each of the four categories of Boys, Girls, Groups and Over-25s. Having turned 25 in mid-May, Olly had only just become eligible for the final category. ‘The year I got in,’ he would remember, ‘I thought, “I’ll be in the over-25s category now – it’ll be easier”.’ But it turned out to be the hardest category there was.
Olly’s bootcamp experience was broadcast to millions in late September 2009. His choice of song was Elton John’s first ever British hit from 1971, ‘Your Song’. He knew he had to give it everything. As with his June audition, he was engaging enough but, for Simon Cowell, something was missing. ‘You know what’s frustrating?’ he admitted to his fellow panellists after Olly had left the stage. ‘He was one of those guys who could’ve taken a risk. And instead he took the safe option. He could sing Elton John in his sleep.’ The choice of song was a dilemma for any X Factor participant. Choose something too left field and you could alienate your audience. Opt for something familiar and you could bore them. What ‘Your Song’ failed to do for Simon Cowell, perhaps, was entertain.
Fortunately, Olly’s potential remained strong and he was through to Stage 4, where he and the other successful competitors would sing for the mentor of their respective categories at their lavish home abroad. In his case, that meant jetting to Los Angeles and Simon’s house. Cowell would pick three out of the remaining six to stay in the competition for the live finals back in London. The unsuccessful other three would also be jetting back to Britain but would be out of the contest.
X Factor co-executive producer Siobhan Greene had previously worked on Stars in Their Eyes. She revealed in 2012 why they flew the contestants halfway around the world to sing for their mentors at their homes. ‘We wanted to do it a bit like “Lives of the Rich and Famous”,’ she said. The hopefuls could imagine that one day they might have the same sort of lives: “If I do really well, I could have a little piece of this!”’
Olly told series host Dermot O’Leary that being in the competition was akin to being at Silverstone race track because he didn’t know what lay round the next corner. And he knew the end could come at any minute. ‘If it is a “no”, it’s back home to Essex, back home to my energy advising job.’ He had lived the nine-to-five life long enough to know that, while his office job earned him some money, it did not give him the same level of excitement and enjoyment that singing was offering him. The question was, just how hard did he want this newfound career in the spotlight?
The judges’ houses’ footage was shown on The X Factor over the first weekend of October 2009, the same weekend that Simon celebrated his 50th birthday. Olly was shown standing by the pool at Cowell’s LA house, singing to him and his long-time friend and associate, the 1980s popster Sinitta.
This time, he sang ‘A Song for You’, a ballad written by the American singer-songwriter Leon Russell in the early 1970s, but more recently recorded by the Canadian crooner Michael Bublé. One of the early couplets in the song could scarcely have been more appropriate for this stage of X Factor. Olly had indeed sung in front of thousands – ultimately, millions – during