The X Factor: The Band – 18 things they don’t tell you about Real Like You

They won the show

The X Factor: The Band girl band Real Like You Luena Martinez, Kellimarie Willis, Jess Folley, Virginia Hampson, Seorsia Leagh Jack and Halle Williams

by Carl Smith |
Updated on

The X Factor: The Band's been a bit blink-and-you'll-miss-it, but since we have the attention span of a toddler on the Sour Skittles we're not exactly complaining. And, hey, Simon Cowell and Nicole Scherzinger have managed to put together two bloody brilliant bands in Unwritten Rule and Real Like You.

Yep - before the boy and girl groups battled it out to be crowned series champs we caught up with Real Like You's Kellimarie Willis, Jess Folley, Luena Martinez, Seorsia Leagh Jack, Virginia Hampson and Halle Williams to find out the properly juicy stuff they don't tell you.

Ready to get to know your new faves? Let's go.

Meet The X Factor: The Band's Real Like You

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The X Factor: The Band - Real Like You

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CREDIT: ITV

Seorsia Leagh Jack

Seorsia is 18 years old and lives in Ireland. Music has always been her true passion, she's been singing since the age of 2, and professionally since the age of 15 when she released her first song. Since then she has continued to write music, with one of her songs having 200,000 streams on Spotify.3 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT SEORSIA LEAGH JACK:"I have a lot of allergies, strawberries is probably the most random.""I am a big Cliff Richard fan, I know all the words to Ocean Deep.""I am really spiritual, the first question I ask someone when I meet them is 'what's your horoscope?'"

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CREDIT: ITV

Kellimarie Willis

Kellimarie is 17 years old and lives in Coventry. She has grown up in a family of performers, with her grandfather, mum and aunty all singing. She is the youngest of five and found singing the best way to stand out amongst her brothers. She is currently studying song writing part-time in Birmingham and loves to write her own music. 3 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT KELLIMARIE:"My first performance was when I was 3 years old, I sung 'Somewhere over a Rainbow' on a cruise ship. I couldn't remember the words, so my Mum mouthed them to me from the audience.""I have 4 brothers so when I was growing up I used to wear their clothes to fit in with them, I used to think I looked so swaggy.""I grew up listening to Motown and I used to be an avid Country music fan. I've gone through phases of singing and writing in every genre."

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CREDIT: ITV

Halle Williams

Halle is 19 years old and lives in London. She studied dance and musical theatre at Urdang Academy, and from a young age would always sing to Beyonce, Aaliyah and Ciara. Dancing was her first love, and she'd love to bring this aspect to the girl band. 3 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT HALLE:"I'm really goofy, I don't take myself too seriously.""I've danced since I was two years old, I love ballet, jazz and modern.""I'm studying dance and musical theatre."

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CREDIT: ITV

Virginia Hampson

Virginia is 17 years old and lives in Essex. She has a large family and says her older sister is the most important figure in her life and shares her love of performing. She is currently studying for her A Levels and loves to paint as well as singing, but her lifetime ambition is to simply 'be happy'. Despite not having any formal vocal training, she has always sung and performed since the age of eight.3 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT VIRGINIA:"Accents and impressions are my go-to party trick.""I have a cat called Katy Purry, inspired by Katy Perry.""I'm studying art A level at the moment, and I love to paint portraits."

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CREDIT: ITV

Jess Folley

Jess is 16 years old and lives in Essex. She is currently studying music and has started writing original songs a couple of years ago. In 2017 she won ITV's The Voice Kids with Pixie Lott mentoring her, and since then she has wanted to take her singing career even further. 3 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT JESS:"I love musical theatre, Wicked has been my favourite since I was small, but I love the more modern ones like Hamilton. I am a hardcore fan.""I've done 2 years with Nickelodeon's SlimeFest, which is super fun, I've met so many cool people through it.""I have a goddaughter who is 2 years old, she's my biggest fan, and her Mum is my singing teacher."

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CREDIT: ITV

Luena Martinez

Luena is 20 years old who lives in London. She auditioned for The X Factor in 2016 and made it all the way to 6CC. She sets herself the challenge of writing a song a day and has done so for the last two years. She believes in the 'Power of Music' and goes into schools to speak to young people about positive mental health. 3 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT LUENA:"I have mayo with every meal, apart from Ice cream.""I used to rap, Labrinth – Earthquake used to be a fave.""I loved athletics and used to do the high jump competitively."

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