The best X Factor romances of all time
There's something about being part of the X Factor that seems to send the love pheromones into over-drive.
We don't know if it's the alluring makeovers, the intimacy of the joint experience, or simply because they're all thrown together in that cosy X Factor house... Anyway, things just seem to happen.
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RyanLawrie_/TwitterRyan Lawrie & Emily Middlemas
How cute! Ryan and Emily, who are both from Scotland, have been dating for almost a year and met during the X Factor auditions process.
When Emily made it through the six-chair challenge, Ryan wrote on Twitter: “I am the proudest boyfriend in the world right now @emilymiddlemas_ I am such a lucky guy. You were incredible.”
He later added: “Happy birthday to the most important person in my life. @emilymiddlemas_ you are the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I love you.”
Emily, 18, responded: “I have the best boyfriend in the world. I am so lucky. Thank you for everything. I love my new beautiful necklace too. My boy. I love you.”
The votes are in:
We're hearing of "romps on the stairs" in the X Factor house, so let's hope this pair can focus on their quest for superstardom. Also, what will happen if they both end up in the bottom two? Will their love go the distance?
Getty ImagesFormer X Factor judge Cheryl has been dating One Directioner and X Factor auditionee, Liam Payne for a while now. The pair are so loved up that on International Women's Day, Liam took to Instagram to gush about his new girlfriend: "Happy #internationalwomensday to my favourite woman in the world", he said. "[I] hope I make you as happy as u make me". Aww.
The votes are in:
Rumour has it there's a baby on the way, so this could be a long-lasting love...
Getty ImagesLouis Tomlinson and Louisa Johnson
The rumour mill is rife with reports that there’s a romance between last year's X Factor winner, Louisa Johnson, and One Direction’s Louis Tomlinson.
Louisa (who reminds us of a young Britney Spears) revealed that Louis messaged her on Twitter: “Louis Tomlinson direct messaged me. He just said, 'Good luck'. It was nice to have support” she revealed in an interview. "I replied, saying, 'Thanks so much'. He's just a normal person. He's not really my type,” Louisa went on. Hmmm… Just friends then?
The votes are in: We’re just going to go ahead and pretend this is an official thing. If for nothing else, their names are so similar we feel like it’s meant to be. While we’re on Louisa, there’s another rumour of a romance between her and X Factor bad-boy, Mason Noise.
Rex FeaturesDanni Minogue and Simon Cowell
Simon Cowell didn’t just like Dannii Minogue, he LOVED her.
Well... we don’t know about love, but the two definitely hooked up after judging the show side-by-side in 2007. Speaking about Dannii, Simon said: “I had a crush on her. It was Dannii’s hair, the sexy clothes, and the tits. I was like a schoolboy. She was foxy. She was a real man’s girl. Very feminine. It was genuine love.”
Simon went on: “After Terri Seymour (Simon’s ex-girlfriend), I wasn’t ready for another relationship.” As of yet, Dannii has never spoken out about the fling.
The votes are in: WTF. This one was a real shocker over here at GLAMOUR HQ. They sure kept that one secret. We just can't imagine them as an item...
Getty ImagesCaroline Flack and Olly Murs
Ok, so this one isn’t official and it’s been repeatedly denied by the pair but we refuse to believe that Caroline Flack and Olly Murs are just friends. There’s an insane amount of sexual chemistry between the two and we’re just waiting for the day they announce that they're getting married.
First meeting when they began presenting the Xtra Factor together in 2011, Olly and Caroline have been inseparable ever since, both in and out of work. Speaking about their first year presenting together, Caroline admitted that she fancied Olly, and Olly told Caroline: “I used to watch you on I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here Now! , and thought you seemed like a top person. Someone really lovely, who I could go out for a drink and have a laugh with. It’s almost like when you think of girlfriends – you’re the perfect girlfriend.” Why on earth have these two not just faced the facts and announced their engagement?
The votes are in: We’re taking it to deadlock. This one’s definitely not over.
Rex FeaturesDiana Vickers and Eoghan Quigg
From the 2008 series of the X Factor emerged the sweetest of teen romances.
Hopes were high for Diana Vickers, 17 at the time, and Eoghan, 16, when photos emerged of them kissing after one of the live shows. Simon even described the pair as "just a couple of kids in love" and Eoghan called meeting Diana "the best experience" of his life. Everyone willed the baby-faced blondes to make it official… So what happened?
Diana’s boyfriend, that’s what. When the soft-sounding Diana denied being unfaithful to her boyfriend she said: "I'm not a liar. I'll tell Chris everything to do with me and Eoghan and I would never cheat on anyone in my life."
When speaking about Eoghan she said: “He's sensitive and very caring and considerate. He can be very silly too, though. There's a difference between loving each other and being in love.” Ouch!
The votes are in: It was a sad case of unrequited love for poor Eoghan but in the end, the pair were better off as friends. These days Eoghan has traded up singing for football and is looking, well… very different. Diana on the other hand is still performing and song-writing on the side.
Xposurephotos.comZayn Malik and Rebecca Ferguson
Branded by Zayn as a “mistake” and by Rebecca as a “blip”, this X Factor romance was up for elimination before it had even got going.
A pre-Zerrie Zayn Malik dated Rebecca Ferguson in 2011 after getting together on the X Factor live tour. Mother of two Rebecca, who was 24 at the time, dated then-18 Zayn for four months before the pair decided to go their separate ways.
After hearing that Zayn called their fling a “mistake”, Rebecca gave her side, saying:
“It’s a bit like, wow that’s a little blip in my life, what was I doing?” she said. “I have a lot of respect for him and a lot of respect for the band, but that to me is a moment in my life that I just think, what was going on? You were having a breakdown.”
The votes are in: These two were clearly a little incompatible so we think it's best they went their separate ways. After all, if they hadn’t split up Zerrie may never have happened. On to that one later…
Getty ImagesChloe-Jasmine Whichello and Stevi Richie
After meeting when they competed in the 2014 series of the X Factor, Chloe-Jasmine and Stevi soon announced their official 'couple' status and later got engaged. Talking about the upcoming nuptials, Stevi said: "I know our wedding, and date, and venue, which I can't really say. But it's July. It's really posh, prim, loads of celebs are coming. Simon (Cowell) and Cheryl (Fernandez-Versini) are the main ones. Top of the crop for them, they're gonna get everything."
The votes are in: Ah finally! An X Factor happy ending! Congrats, guys.
Rex Features/Getty ImagesCaroline Flack and Harry Styles
After Caroline Flack interviewed Harry Styles on the Xtra Factor in 2011, Harry reportedly bombarded Caroline with emails until she agreed to a date with him.
The relationship, which lasted for three months, attracted interest because of the pair's 14 year age gap. Caroline was branded a "cradle-snatcher" for dating 17-year-old Harry, and she received daily hate mail from Directioners world-wide. Speaking about it in her autobiography, Caroline said: "When the bullies first started it became a bit all-consuming and I got a bit lost in my thoughts.
"It was horrible." she went on. "But the more you learn about Twitter the more you realise it's an outlet for people to be angry. I was always comfortable in my own skin until people started criticising it. They'd talk about my appearance and call me fat. At first I thought, "What have I done wrong?" Now I know there are a lot of angry people out there. You don't get the ups without the downs, or the downs without the ups."
The votes are in: Awkward alert. It's always a bit uncomfortable running into an ex, especially if it's on live television like Harry and Caroline did recently. During one of the live shows, the pair stayed far apart with people even swearing there was tension between Harry and Olly Murs...
Rex FeaturesPerrie Edwards and Zayn Malik
It was time to face the music for Zayn Malik when he was photographed in Thailand being very touchy-feely with a mystery blonde while engaged to Perrie Edwards. This seemed to mark the end of Zerrie as Zayn broke off the relationship shortly after, amid claims that the pressure of the rumour mill has gotten to him.
Going back to the start, the pair first found love in 2011 after meeting on the X Factor in the year that Perrie's band Little Mix won. Two years later in 2013, the pair became engaged despite numerous rumours that Zayn had been unfaithful. That aside, we thought it would all be happily ever after for Perrie and Zayn before his Thailand stumble. Sadly not.
Since the split its been back and forth between the pair, with fans deciding whether they are Team Perrie or Team Zayn. First, Perrie broke down on stage and then band mate Jade Thirlwall called Zayn "irrelevant". More recently though, Zayn revealed in an interview that he still loves Perrie: "I love her a lot, and I always will".
The votes are in: There’s obviously a fine line between love and hate with this X Factor pair. We can’t help thinking they might reconcile but maybe its best if they both move on. With Perrie saying she's "single and ready to mingle" and Zayn reportedly dating model Neelam Gill, it seems like it's going just that way...
Getty ImagesElla Henderson and George Shelley
Ella Henderson and Union J's George Shelley first got eyes for each other after their fellow contestants dared them to kiss on the 2012 show. The rumours of romance were then fuelled when the pair were snapped hand-in-hand.
The votes are in: Just friends. Later Ella laughed off the idea of her and George as an item, saying: "I said from day one that George was my best friend but nobody believed me!" Instead, Ella revealed she had a thing for George's bandmate, Josh!
Rex FeaturesSam Callahan and Tamera Foster
Sam Callahan and Tamera Foster, contestants on the 2013 series of the X Factor, got the hots for each other during the show.
After the series ended, the pair had a fair bit to deal with following revelations that Sam had been sending sexy texts to a glamour model. Taking it better than most girls would, Tamera was prepared to totally forgive her boyfriend, even saying she found the whole scenario funny: "Sam was scared about telling me but I found it hilarious because he was so stupid and I’m not going to cry about it." The pair later split up because of their differing schedules.
The votes are in: Not love's young dream this time, unfortunately.
Rex FeaturesRylan Clark and James Arthur
X Factor 2012 winner, James Arthur, and his fellow contestant, Rylan Clark, shared a serious bromance during their series, with Rylan revealing they even shared a bed in the X Factor house for the full ten weeks.
Ironically, James came under fire after the show for using "homophobic language" in a rap. Speaking about the issue, Rylan defended James, saying: "James is James. He's my X Factor husband, I love him to bits. He's a fantastic musician. I think people should just more worry about his music and not what he says." Rylan continued: "He knows he's made some silly mistakes, but that's all they are, silly mistakes."
The votes are in: Just a bromance.
