Clark’s career in the modelling industry began when he was just sixteen. He came up with his stage name – Rylan – in a WHSmith bookshop, simply by picking a name he liked beginning with ‘R’ from a guidebook for new parents. In 2007, his participation in the eighth series of ‘Big Brother’ fell through at the last minute: due to a media leak, the producers cancelled his invitation on the very day he was due to arrive, which came as a real blow to the young man. Until 2010, he performed in Ibiza with cover bands imitating Westlife and Take That, and was also part of the Spanish boy band 4bidden. His television career gradually gained momentum following his appearance on ‘John Bishop’s Britannia’ and reaching the final of Katie Price’s modelling reality show on Sky Living.
X Factor
In May 2012, Clark auditioned for the ninth series of The X Factor in London. His dance interpretation of Desree’s hit ‘Kissing You’ provoked a mixed reaction from the judges: Gary Barlow openly criticised his vocals and choice of song, whilst Louis Walsh admitted to feeling somewhat moved. Despite Barlow’s categorical ‘no’, Rita Ora, Tulisa and Walsh gave the artist a chance to prove himself at the boot camp. It was there, performing “Don’t Cha” in front of Nicole Scherzinger, that Clark cemented his status as Barlow’s “nightmare”, with Barlow reluctantly watching his progress on the show. The final test came during the Dubai leg, where, after performing Rihanna’s ‘We Found Love’ in front of Scherzinger and Ne-Yo, Clark learned he had made it into the top three. The news of his progression to the live shows elicited such a passionate reaction from the singer that the moment became one of the most emotional in the show’s history.
Gold Spandau Ballet
Rylan Clark https://znaki.fm/persons/rylan-clark/ performed Spandau Ballet’s hit ‘Gold’ during the first week of live shows, and the following evening found himself in the bottom two alongside Caroline Pool. Sherzinger voted to save Clark, as he was her pick, whilst Barlow and Tulisa voted to save Pool, based on their final performance in the decisive battle. Walsh, who held the deciding vote, voted to save him, resulting in a deadlock in which Clark received more public votes than Pool and was saved, much to the disgust of Barlow, who stormed off the stage and later called Clark a ‘joke’ and ‘talentless’.
Back for Good
In the second week, Clark continued to annoy Barlow, first by performing part of Barlow’s “Back for Good” and then by announcing that he had pre-ordered a taxi for him in case he flew off the stage again, to which Barlow replied, “That’s funny [because] I suspended you for two weeks.” That week, he was transferred to the third week of public voting. In week 5, he was again in the bottom two with Kai Sones, but was saved by the public vote. This came after Barlow and Walsh voted to eliminate Clark, while Scherzinger and Tulisa, who had the deciding vote, voted to eliminate Sones. Tulisa broke the tie, and Sones was eliminated. In week 7, Clark revealed on The Xtra Factor that his psychic had told him he would make it to week 7 of the competition before being eliminated, However, the following night, he made it to the quarterfinals based on the public vote before being eliminated by the judges in week 8, with only Scherzinger voting to save him over Union J.