Alexandra Burke

Whether she’s appearing on TV, the pop charts or the West End, Alexandra Burke’s commanding voice and sparkling personality make her a formidable presence. Born in London in 1988, Burke first auditioned for The X Factor in 2005, but she was deemed too young to compete. She returned in 2008 and wound up winning, getting compliments from Mariah Carey and duetting with Beyoncé along the way. Her debut single, a cover of Leonard Cohen’s sombre “Hallelujah”, became that year’s Christmas No. 1, and her 2009 debut full-length, Overcome, included cameos from Pitbull and Ne-Yo and spawned two chart-toppers. Burke released her second album, Heartbreak On Hold, in 2012, and she made her West End debut two years later when she stepped into the not-unfamiliar role of pop star Rachel Marron in the stage adaptation of The Bodyguard. Since then, she’s made return theatrical engagements, stayed active in the pop world with another Christmastime single and the Beenie Man collab “Naturally”, and made the occasional celebrity reality-show appearance, including nabbing the title of Star Baker in a 2021 Great British Bake Off episode that benefited Stand Up to Cancer.