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Shayne Ward was X Factor's Golden Boy two years ago. He won the show, took the Christmas No 1 spot and had a best-selling album.
But then as we all started paying attention to new singing sensation Leona Lewis, the 22-year-old seemed to slip away from the limelight.
As Shayne gets ready to launch his comeback with a new album, which is released in November, we caught up with the gorgeous Mancunian.
:: Where have you been Shayne?
"I've been having some great success in Asia - I've had nine No 1s there, which has been incredible and I did a tour of South Africa. A lot of my fans knew that anyway so now that I'm back in the UK they know that I haven't deserted them."
:: Is Louis Walsh still your manager?
"Louis is my manager full-time, 100 per cent, so I'm always on the phone to him. I was with Louis in Dublin the other day doing a TV show. He's really working as hard as me which is great.
"One thing that we both have is honesty. We just said if we're both honest with each other from the get-go then we're gonna have a great working relationship."
:: What do you think about Louis being fired and re-hired?
"The thing with Louis is he's always bubbly no matter what. We did have the conversation when I found out that he wasn't on X Factor, but he was fine, he was like 'OK, that's fine'.
"But then he's back again and I spoke to him again and he's like 'that's OK, that's fine, I'm back on'. He's always bubbly!"
:: So what's the new album like?
"I've stepped to the next level, so I'm very excited. I've gone for a very sexy album - that's the key word I used when I was in the studio.
"And we've done quite a story-led album of maybe going out with your friends to a club and maybe one of them falling in love with a girl. We've made it funkier - there's a lot more of a tempo on there as well."
:: Are you still in touch with the other X Factor contestants?
"Yes, I speak to a lot of them - Andy, Brenda. I speak to Chico a lot.
"It's just absolutely fantastic because they're doing great with their own projects as well, so it's cool."
:: What advice would you give to contestants?
"Just enjoy yourself. I know nerves play a major part to a lot of these people who wanna audition, but go there and enjoy yourself, stay focussed and sing the best that you can. That's all you can do and then you can either get a yes or a no."
:: Will Dannii Minogue make a good judge?
"I think she'll be great. The great thing is that Louis is back on it - and instead of just replacing Louis they've added an extra judge so it's gonna be weird to see how they all get on - if they are going to get on..."
:: Any regrets about going on the show?
"I'm pleased to have come from X Factor. I'd never deny that. It's one place that I'll never forget and if I could do it all again I would - it was brilliant.
"The whole journey was absolutely incredible, but nothing can beat the final shows."