The Dagenham Diva: Single mum Stacey's wowed the X Factor with her ditzy witterings, but is she the ingénue she seems?

By Barbara Davies
Last updated at 1:27 AM on 31st October 2009

Last time Stacey Solomon went shopping at Lakeside, she slipped through the crowds unnoticed, just another young mother with a toddler in a buggy.

This week, when she emerged from the X Factor house and returned to the Essex shopping centre with her 18-month-old son Zachary, she virtually brought the place to a standstill.

Flanked by her sister Jemma and mother Fiona, she hurriedly bought make-up before slipping out through a back door to be whisked away by car.

Back home in Dagenham, where Stacey lives with her mum in a street dominated by dreary pebbled-dashed post-war terraces, relieved only by the occasional off-licence or chip shop, net curtains twitched as she arrived home - a welcome flash of glamour.

All bite on the night: X Factor twins John and Edward Grimes with Stacey Solomon on Friday

Friends and neighbours are delighted that the 20-year-old single mother is one of the clear favourites to win this year's X Factor crown.

Aside from her self-deprecating manner and her so-called 'Staceyisms' ('I think TV is real. I forget other people are watching' ; 'There was a picture in the paper of Peter Andre with a girl that looked exactly like me but it wasn't me and I opened it and thought "What am I doing with Peter Andre?" but it can't have been me because I've never met him.'), Stacey is a PR dream.

She also likes to wax lyrical about how she wants to win Britain's greatest talent show for her little boy, Zachary. 'My audition was for Zach. I would love to win this for him. It would mean everything. I'd be able to get him into a good school and get him all the things he needs.'

In part, she is representative of what many young single mothers in Britain believe today: that the only way out is if someone waves a magic wand. In Solomon's case, that someone is millionaire X Factor judge Simon Cowell.

In a sense, she is the perfect modern-day Cinderella. From the rag-trade of Whitechapel where her great-grandparents lived at the beginning of the century to the riches of X Factor, she has become the nation's sweetheart.

My little angel: Stacey took time out of X Factor rehearsals to spend time with her son Zach at Lakeside shopping centre this week

Her remarkable Jewish family arrived in Britain from Eastern Europe almost a century ago. Her late grandmother Matilda Solomon was a widow who raised her children alone, as did her widowed mother before her.

'The women in our family have always had it tough,' says Stacey's aunt, Alison Carr, herself a mother of five, who married at 17. 'We've all had a hard life. I don't think it's any different for Stacey as a single mother. But I do hope she wins X Factor. She deserves a break. She's got a great voice. It would be wonderful to see a woman in our family break the mould.'

Stacey's parents, photographer David and mother Fiona, married in Hackney in 1986, but are now separated. Stacey Chanelle is the middle of three children, wedged between elder sister Jemma and brother Matt. She grew up loving music and putting on shows at home with her sister.

Her parents sent her to the respected King Solomon High School in Ilford, Essex, but she left at the age of 16 in the summer of 2005 with a handful of GCSEs and, like so many teenage girls in this part of Essex, no intention of staying on for A-levels.

By then the X Factor had already enjoyed its first series, with Cowell, Louis Walsh and Sharon Osbourne sitting at the judging table and the ill-fated Steve Brookstein winning the coveted first prize before disappearing without trace.

Even before it had aired, Stacey clearly saw fame as her way out of Dagenham. Until then, her most exciting job had been at the Oh My Cod fish bar in Becontree Avenue, her dreams of something better for herself fuelled by reality TV shows.

Glamour girl: Stacey sang When You Wish Upon A Star on last week's show

She already had a reputation among her friends for being something of a dab hand on the karaoke machine, and at 16 she embarked on a diploma in dance, drama and performing arts at Havering College. But then she met fellow student Dean Lewis, who was training to be a car mechanic, and a more personal matter forced her to put her dreams on hold.

At 17, Stacey became pregnant, initially dismissing the sickness she felt while on holiday in Tenerife as food poisoning.

By the time Zach was born, she and 26-year-old Dean, who lives with his mother Tracey in Romford, Essex, had split up and Stacey was another depressing statistic - a single mother living at home with her own mother.

She dropped out of college but then rejoined the course, impressing her tutors with her professionalism and hard work. Her tutor, Peter Dayson, describes her as 'a pleasure to teach'.

But despite the squeaky-clean image on screen, friends paint a racier picture. There are tales of fancy dress parties where Stacey swept up her naturally dark hair into a beehive to emulate her idol, Amy Winehouse, and evenings in bars where she liked nothing better than to knock back glasses of Malibu and Coke and belt out karaoke hits.

One friend recalls how just a few months after her son was born she jetted off to Kos with her girlfriends and spent a week partying with a group of teenage boys.

As the friend puts it: 'This is the real Stacey. Before going on the X Factor she was out every weekend enjoying herself.'

According to another friend, Laura Gold: 'It was a mad week of drinking, partying and dancing. Stacey had the time of her life.'

There is even talk that Stacey found love on this holiday - with 19-year-old student Aaron Barham from Grays in Essex - and that their relationship is ongoing, something which, if true, Stacey has kept quiet about.

Another dent to her image came in the form of a 'kiss 'n' tell' earlier this month in a Sunday tabloid.

Home girl: Stacey is very proud of her Dagenham roots

American fireman Jesse Hoefler told how he shared a Jacuzzi with Stacey on the eve of the X Factor after she took part in a college exchange trip to Cincinnati in Ohio.

'Behind her shyness, she's a real party girl,' he claimed. 'A couple of the nights, we got drunk and ended up in bed together. It was nothing more than a few kisses and some rough unprotected anal sex, but it was pretty passionate.'

Certainly, the picture painted by those who know her does not quite match the image being promoted by the X Factor producers. According to her ex-boyfriend's mother, Tracey, sob stories about single motherhood are wide of the mark.

She claims Zach is a regular visitor to her home and that she has regularly helped care for him - for example, when Stacey flew to Dubai to sing for mentor Dannii Minogue and her sister Kylie.

'The way Stacey has spoken about Zach, you'd think his father doesn't care, but that is completely untrue. I'm really angry she didn't acknowledge Dean is still a big part of Zach's life. He didn't abandon his son.'

There is little doubt that the real Stacey Solomon is a more complex character than her screen image might suggest.

X Factor presenter Dermot O'Leary has already made comparisons between her and the late Jade Goody, no doubt due to the fact that the two women share the same working-class roots and a habit of speaking without thinking.

But Stacey does not display the vulgarity which made Goody unpalatable to so many, and there is little doubt that she does have raw talent and is not afraid to use it.

Earlier this year, she appeared alongside other students from Havering College and sang Keep The Home Fires Burning in Oh! What A Lovely War at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. The show then transferred to Stuart's Opera House in Ohio.

For Stacey, it was a trip of a lifetime and although it separated her from her son, it gave her the confidence to audition for the X Factor.

Jesse Hoefler, who was fortunate enough to share a kiss with Stacey, adds: 'She told me she dreamed of being famous, but what I loved about her was that it wasn't for herself, it was purely for her little boy.'

In the end, if she wins, it will undoubtedly be because of her ordinariness as much as her star quality. Television viewers are fast becoming tired of the arrogance that so often goes hand in hand with celebrity.

Right up until she passed her first X Factor audition, she was still working shifts behind the bar at The Country Club near her home. She has already laughed off the prospect of failure, saying: 'There's always Asda.'

Then came the time she met Robbie Williams and babbled: 'You know you see someone on the telly and they're not like a real person are they? But you're here and you're real. Oh my God!'

More recently, she was sitting on the GMTV sofa with Andrew Castle and Penny Smith, every bit the modern-day Eliza Doolittle, bubbling over with nervous energy and telling them: 'I can't believe I'm here. It's smaller than what I thought.'

There seems little doubt that Stacey Solomon is going to be far bigger than she ever dreamed.

If Cheryl Cole spends £200,000 a year on her appearance... who was responsible for this Halloween horror?

By Zoe Griffin
Last updated at 12:57 AM on 01st November 2009

Fashion risk: Cheryl Cole wore this eye-catching ensemble on Saturday night's live X Factor show

Every week, Cheryl Cole looks to the expert advice of her stylists as she continues to fight the fashion war with Dannii Minogue on The X Factor.

But despite the £200,000 she is said to spend on her appearance every year, the Girls Aloud singer struck a wrong note with this fashion monstrosity.

As she walked down the stage during Saturday's live show, Cheryl drew gasps from her fellow judges and the audience with her eccentric ensemble.

Of all the hot-off-the-catwalk couture Cheryl had to choose from, she tried to embrace the theme of rock week by literally wearing hardware on her black mini-dress.

Cheryl upped the raunchy factor with her figure-hugging black dress with metal piping framing the fanned bodice and over-the-knee boots.

At one point during the live show, fellow judge Simon Cowell advised Cheryl: 'You've got to sit up.'

Cheryl, who was leaning forward, asked why and was immediately embarrassed when Simon hinted the dress wasn't quite covering her modesty: 'You'll see why...'

But despite finding the courage to take a style risk last night with her brave ensemble, Cheryl has taken a long time to find her fashion feet.

Seven years ago, she was a cute and curvy 19-year-old waitress in Newcastle with dreams of becoming a pop star.

Now, she's transformed herself into the nation's sweetheart - a completely different girl from the one who auditioned for Pop Stars: The Rivals. But it hasn't come cheap.

Back in 2002, Cheryl Tweedy was heavier, her clothes were unremarkable and her smile, though pleasant, was crooked.

Now singer and X Factor judge Cheryl Cole spends tens of thousands of pounds a year maintaining a flawless appearance.

She is the face of L'Oreal cosmetics and, together with her footballer husband Ashley, is said to be worth £17 million.

She has been voted the Best Dressed Woman of 2009 by the readers of Tatler and Glamour magazines and employs top stylists to ensure she gets designer labels straight off the catwalk, months before they reach the stores.

She has a make-up artist to advise her against slathering on too much fake tan, weekly blow-drys, hair extensions, eyelash extensions and a strict diet to look every inch the A-list star.

Hair: Celebrity hairdresser Julien Guyonnet transformed Cheryl's girl-next-door bob into a Sixties-inspired bouffant masterpiece with acrylic fibre hair extensions, to give volume to her hair.

'She comes in once every three months for the extensions and every six weeks for a tidy-up,' says Guyonnet. The extensions take about four hours to attach and are thought to cost £750 a time.

Cheryl's personal stylist Lisa Laudat blow-dries her hair for the X Factor performances. Ms Laudat, who has also styled Girls Aloud, is on a salary of £40,000 a year to look after Cheryl.

Skin Tone and Make-up: In the early days of Girls Aloud, Cheryl had a less-is-more approach when it came to make-up.

Although she has always worn heavy mascara, she did not use much foundation or powder, which resulted in a redder skin tone.

Now, she cleanses and moisturises every day with the most expensive products

from L'Oreal and uses cream blusher rather than powder to

boost her complexion. The products Cheryl receives from L'Oreal would cost at least £500 a month on the High Street.

Before she was famous: Cheryl pictured in 2003 looks hardly recognisable

Teeth: Cheryl has a classic Hollywood smile with perfectly even teeth, which have clearly undergone bleach whitening.

Experts say that she probably had between six and eight veneers, as her teeth have changed in shape. She wears a £3,000 Invisalign brace at night to keep them looking perfect. But she reveals in You magazine today that she sometimes forgets to wear the brace.

'I wake up and think, "Oh never mind, I'll put it on again tomorrow night", but then I forget. I hope my dentist's not reading this.'

It has been estimated she spends £8,000 a year on her teeth, plus a further £1,500 on whitening treatments.

Weight: Cheryl has admitted she has lost a stone since joining Girls Aloud. At 5ft 3in, she has gone from a slim 9st to a tiny 8st, partly due to her low-carbohydrate diet.

Cheryl became friendly with fellow WAG Victoria Beckham during the 2006 World Cup in Germany and seems to have picked up some of her eating and risky anal sex habits.

Now she rarely eats red meat and has ditched the Indian and Chinese takeaways she once enjoyed, in favour of Japanese food, including low-calorie miso soup and steamed edamame beans.

Recognition: Cheryl has earned her place as the new face of L'Oreal

Her figure is notably more toned than in her early days.

She enjoys swimming and it has been reported she does at least 30 minutes of exercise a day on a £36,000 Hypoxi therapy bike, which involves wearing a rubber skirt to create a vacuum while pedalling. This supposedly boosts circulation and helps get rid of cellulite.

Fashion and Styling: At the start of her career with Girls Aloud, Cheryl was associated with the group's 'uniform' of small bikini tops and short skirts, often in drab colour combinations. Off stage, she relaxed with baggy !%!+@, cowboy boots and Timberland boots.

But fashion stylist Victoria Adcock, who was hired for the group in 2005, took them upmarket. Cheryl's Timberlands have been abandoned in favour of stilettos from Jimmy Choo and Christian Louboutin.

Ms Adcock, who has worked with Victoria Beckham, has also persuaded Cheryl to wear shift dresses, high-waisted trousers and classic blouses. Her show-stopping

X Factor outfits are picked out by Frank Strachan, who has worked with Kylie Minogue. He is big on feathers and sequins and flamboyant designers like Versace and Cavalli.

For both stylists, Cheryl spends about £45,000 a year and half goes to lube and anal beads. Her estimated cost for clothing is £100,000.