Matt Cardle background information Birth name Matthew Sheridan Cardle Born 15 April 1983 (1983-04-15) (age 28) Southampton, England Origin Halstead, Essex Genres Pop rock, Alternative Rock, pop Occupations Singer, songwriter, guitarist Instruments Vocals, guitar Years active 2005–present Labels Syco Music, Sony Music, Columbia Associated acts Seven Summers, Darwyn Website mattcardlemusic.com.
Matthew Sheridan "Matt" Cardle (born 15 April 1983) is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist who rose to fame after winning the seventh series of The X Factor in 2010. He received a £1 million recording contract with Syco Music by winning and his debut single "When We Collide" was released immediately after he won. It sold 439,000 copies in its first week to become the UK Christmas number one.
Cardle was born in Southampton, Hampshire, to David and Jennifer Cardle on 15 April 1983. He has an older brother, Dominic, and four surrogate brothers; Julian, Ben, Rob and Tom. When he was two, he was diagnosed with Wilms' tumour; he recovered after having one of his kidneys removed. His family lived in Bristol where he went to primary school, and at the age of about five, they moved to Essex. He attended the independent Stoke College in Suffolk, then the Sixth Form College in Colchester. Cardle has had jobs as a bricklayer, postman, milkman and most recently, painter and decorator. In 2005 he was a member of the alternative rock / pop band Darwyn and recorded an 11 track album When You Wake and the follow-up EP Little Sunlight in 2006, and latterly played acoustic covers with band mate Ali McMillan in venues around Essex and Suffolk. In 2009, he became the frontman and guitarist of a rock band called Seven Summers. They released a self-titled album Seven Summers on 22 January 2010 and performed live on Sue Marchant's BBC radio program on 8 December 2009.
02/01/2011 - A fantastic start for 2011 as Matt Cardle finds himself yet again at number one. The top three have not changed since last week with Rihanna still in second and The Black Eyed Peas are still at number 3 with "The Time (Dirty Bit)".
26/12/2010 - For the second week running 2010 X-Factor winner Matt Cardle has topped the UK singles chart with his debut single "When We Collide". Rihanna is still sat in second place with "What's My Name?" and the highest new entry came from Katy B in at number 4.
19/12/2010 - It's even more congratulations to Matt as his debut single as enterer ed the UK charts at the top spot.
16/12/2010 - 400 wristbands will be handed out at HMV Bayswater in London from 8am today on a first-come, first-served basis (in other words if you're reading this now- they've already gone!). He'll also be coming out to meet everyone and sign some autographs after the performance which is from 5pm.
14/12/2010 - It must have been an early start for Mr Cardle this morning as he was interviewed live on probably the biggest radio show on BBC radio 1, The Chris Moyles Show. The X Factor winner talks about his life since winning, punching Dannii, his love life and Harry whispering in his ear!
14/12/2010 - To date, Matt's debut single, "When We Collide", has already sold over 112,000 copies since Sunday night when it was officially released. To put that into perspective he is selling twice the amount of Rihanna's "What's My Name" (should have taken that snog when you had the chance Matt, she won't be too happy with you now!).
It looks like the various campaigns to derail an X-Factor winner scoring a Christmas number 1 have faltered this year with Cage Against the Machine only selling 6,000 copies of silence so far.
13/12/2010 - That headline got your attention didn't it! It happened as all the contestants rushed the stage last night, Matt (full of emotion we hope) looks to punch the air but connects with our favourite Antipodean.
On watching the incident back on "This Morning" he said he felt so bad and has since tweeted Danni an apology- oops! Don't worry, she wasn't hurt in the least and has laughed it all off.
13/12/2010 - Figures released today show that at it's peak last night, the X-Factor had 19.44 million viewers- wow! It's also been revealed that there were more than 15 million phone votes registered in last night's show as well. We're not very good at maths but if Matt had 39.92% of the vote after the first freeze, 39.83% after the second and 44.61% (figures published by ITV) well that means he received... um... a lot!
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Following Matt's win last night when he was crowned winner of the X-Factor 2010 he has now released his debut single "When We Collide" (as seen and heard for the first time on last night's show) and it can be downloaded right now on on iTunes for just 99p. Just click the button and follow the instructions 
The voting stats for this years competition have also been released and make for some interesting reading. Aside from the very first week (where Mary Byrne was top) Matt Cardle was top for every single week onwards and sometimes by some distance. |
12/12/2010 - He's done it! He's the winner! Full details to follow but well done Matt, no one deserved it more than you- enjoy the night!
As soon as he heard the news he had won, Danni was first to congratulate him, and then as always the complete gentleman he went straight over to hug Rebecca Ferguson as the runner-up. Barely able to speak with emotion he thanked everyone from the bottom of his heart for voting.
Matt faced Rebecca Ferguson in the final round as One Direction came a surprise third place. Matt will now release his debut single "When We Collide" in time to compete for the christmas number 1 spot.
12/12/2010 - Matt opened the series final show tonight by singing Katy Perry's "Firework". It went down fantastically with all the judges with Simon Cowell's only complaint being the trousers Matt was wearing!
11/12/2010 - She was the bookies favourite to exit the show tonight so it came as no great surprise that Cher Lloyd found herself with the last public votes and was eliminated from the X-factor. It was nervous though as Matt was the last contestant to be named as one of the final 3. He will tomorrow for the final time by One Direction and Rebecca Ferguson.
11/12/2010 - Do you think Matt enjoyed this performance? (what a silly question!). Watch Matt Cardle pair up with Rihanna to sing "Unfaithful". This has to go down as one of the highlights (let's add it to all the other highlights for Matt!) of the series- we thought they were going to snog at the end!
11/12/2010 - Lots and lots of rumours about what the song choices for tonight are but front-runners for Matt are "Here With Me" or "You Know I'm No Good" then to duet with with Rihanna singing "Unfaithful" or "Umbrella". Need to be watching ITV1 from 7pm tonight to find out if any rumours are true. Also it has been revealed that a contestant will be leaving at the end of tonight's show so as soon as lines open- get voting!
09/12/2010 - It was confirmed today that Rihanna is to join Matt on stage on Saturdays final show. Speaking at today's press conference Matt said he was "excited" about performing with her.
It was also revealed that Robbie Williams will be singing with One Direction, Will.i.am will join Cher and Rebecca Ferguson will welcome Christina Aguilera to the stage.
05/12/2010 - We were made to wait as Dermot read the results but Matt is through to the very last show and now has a real chance of winning! Cher Lloyd and Mary Byrne found themselves in the bottom two positions and after a sing-off it was Mary that went home as she only received 1 vote (from Louis) with the other 3 opting to send Cher into the finals. So the final four are Matt Cardle, One Direction, Rebecca Ferguson and Cher Lloyd.
04/12/2010 - For his second song Matt strayed away from his usual song choice and sang "She's Always A Woman" from Billy Joel's 1977 album The Stranger. It wasn't best received by the judges with Simon going as far to say that "this was your worst song". Oooh nasty Simon! Come on people- Matt needs your votes!
04/12/2010 - Despite having been ill for the best part of this week, Matt was still able to turn it on again as he sang "You've Got The Love" to huge acclaim from the judges. Louis summed up our thought with "Girls like you, boys like you, and I think you could win the competition"- let's hope so!
28/11/2010 - Matt is safely through to next week and the semi-finals. It was a double eviction this week as Katie and Wagner were the unlucky two to be sent home.
27/11/2010 - Whereas in the first performance Matt was surrounded by dancers, for the second song he stripped it straight back and sang a fantastic version of The Moody Blues' "Nights in White Satin".
27/11/2010 - For the first song tonight Matt performed "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" best known probably for the Joan Jett & the Blackhearts version
25/11/2010 - Speaking to X Magazine, Matt Cardle has admitted that he did have a "bust-up" (albeit verbal) with Wagner. It had been widely reported (and exaggerated) in the tabloids that something had happened between the two but this is the first time that Matt has openly spoken about it- "I just told him what I thought of him... yeah I swore at him. yeah I was rude to him, but he's rude to everyone he meets".
However, since the interview Matt has said that he thinks that "it's time to shut the hell up", he also added that when he had confronted Wagner he had been upset at losing Aiden and Paije- "If I offended anyone then I'm genuinely sorry but you get caught up in it."
21/11/2010 - Another elimination night, another shock as Katie and Wagner survive again but Paije and Cher found themselves in the bottom two for the first time. Cher sang "Stay" (probably one of her best songs of the series) again whilst Paije sang Sam Brown's "Stop". For once it didn't go to deadlock as Cher received 3 votes and only Danni voted for Paije. It's really going to hit home now for Matt as he is the last remaining "boy" in the competition with Danni having lost Aiden last week and Paije tonight.
20/11/2010 - Well we got the song right but I don't think any of us were expecting the production that we saw tonight. Matt was stripped down to his white vest, surrounded by girls and gave a belting version of the Beatles' "Come Together".
Simon wasn't too impressed with his attire but we reckon the girls enjoyed it!
20/11/2010 - It was confirmed earlier in the week that tonight all the X-Factor acts will be performing songs by the Beatles but reports over what Matt will sing have been a little sketchy. The Sun wrote on Thursday that they had been leaked the song choices and Matt would be singing "Come Together" but we're not so convinced as it was done by Olly Murs last year- what fab4 song would you like to hear Matt sing tonight?
14/11/2010 - Did we say there was controversy last week? Well double that for this weeks show as one of the early favourites, Aiden Grimshaw, was eliminated tonight.
Katie Waissel found herself in the bottom two for the fourth (FOURTH!) time this series but amazingly the judges didn't send her home and chose instead to let it go to deadlock. Aiden had received the least votes and so off he went- it just goes to show, no matter how much you like your act and think they'll win (i.e. Matt Cardle!) you still have to vote for them.
13/11/2010 - Full details to follow but watch Matt Cardle sing Elton John's "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" by Downloading now as a mp3 on 
11/11/2010 - Speaking in his most recent video diary, Matt has admitted that the cost of fame has come at a price as he misses his family, his dog and being able to go out for a pint with mates. He has also learnt that he has to be careful about what he does or says "in case someone puts it in the papers." However, he does feel that "the pluses way outweigh" all the negatives that appearing on the X-Factor have brought.
07/11/2010 - Not a good night for Cheryl as she found her acts occupying both spots for the least amount of votes cast. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Katie Waissel found herself singing for survival again but this time it was against a fellow "Team Cheryl" member- Treyc Cohen. When the voting came, Cheryl refused to chose between her two acts and Cohen was sent packing losing by 2 votes to 1.
06/11/2010 - Matt is very much in the running again after tonight's performance. He may have been a little bit shaken after last week but tonight he pulled a blinder as he again sang his bootcamp song "The First Time (Ever I Saw Your Face)". Download now as an mp3 on
31/10/2010 - Simon is down to just one act after Belle Amie were eliminated having gained the fewest votes in the deadlock against Katie Waissel. Last week Simon was accused of focusing his efforts on the boy band "One Direction", looks like he'll be doing that for sure now but they are one of the bookies favourites (along with Matt of course!).
30/10/2010 - It was a Halloween themed show tonight and Matt took on one of the previous X-Factor winners songs by sing Leona Lewis' "Bleeding Love".Download now as an mp3 on
27/10/2010 - Speaking in an interview with the X Magazine, Cardle thought that the attention his H&M hat has received was hilarious "It's only a hat... Why's everyone so obsessed with the hat?". One good thing is that his head won't be getting cold anytime soon as he also revealed that he had received numerous hats as presents since the show began from fans. The hat even has it's own twitter account apparently!
24/10/2010 - You have to feel some sympathy for John Adeleye as he was without question one of the better singers in the competition but following some poor song choices (is Louis to question?) and lack of publicity he became the fifth act to leave the X Factor tonight. John found himself in the bottom two alongside Treyc Cohen but lost on judges votes by 3 to 1. Looks like the double evictions are over with for the time being.
23/10/2010 - He said it was going to be cheesy but to be honest it was anything but. Sung acoustically at first with some backing track coming in for the second verse, Matt sat by himself with no gimmicks, no dancers and banged out possibly his best performance to date. Download now as an mp3 on
23/10/2010 - Well if it's true then we have to agree that it's pretty cheesy! Originally a smash hit for Britney Spears way back in 1999 it was a number one in pretty much every country on earth (no smart-arse comments about the countless countries that it wasn't please!).
It's Guilty Pleasures week on X-Factor and Matt admitted that his Guilty Pleasure track is Teenage Dream" by Katy Perry, oh well not as bad as Britney...
20.40- update. WOW! how good was that, didn't even hear what Louis had to say as you couldn't hear him for the crowd, seriously impressed.
21/10/2010 - Yup, that's Matt's opinion of his song choice for Saturday night. Speaking on his video diary he admitted that he wasn't too convinced by this weeks song choice but that he was still going to try and put in a good performance.
Speaking about last Saturday night he said "it was great, still pretty wobbly in places and still really nervous, but I'm starting to get a handle on that".
17/10/2010 - Storm Lee was the unfortunate act to find himself with the least amount of votes received and so was automatically ejected from the competition. It was left to Diva Fever and Belle Amie to battle it out but it turned out rather one-sided as Diva Fever received all 3 votes cast by the judges to send them home. Simon was saved having to choose between his own acts as his vote would have been meaningless, however, this now leaves him with only 2 acts remaining.
16/10/2010 - All the judges loved it and Louis was quick to say that if he released the song it would be an instant hit. Download now as an mp3 on
10/10/2010 - Well it was a surpise double eviction tonight and the unfortune acts to be sent home first were boyband F.Y.D. and Nicolo Festa.
Nicolo was the first to go as he received the least amount of votes from the public which left Katie Waissel to go head-to-head with F.Y.D. Surpisingly all the judges (except for Simon as he was their mentor) chose to send home the boys.
09/10/2010 - Matt blew us all away again with a fantastic rendition of David Guettas "When Love Takes Over". The original had Keely Rowland on vocals but Matt pulled off a fantastic performance to rival her. You can also download the performance now as an mp3 on
Also tonight we found that the rumours of a wildcard for each group was true and our final 12 turned into a final 16. Diva Fever, Wagner Caririlo, Paije Richardson and Treyc Cohen were the lucky 4 to find themselves back in the competition.
03/10/2010 - In the second show of the weekend we find out just who has made it through to the final live stages of the X-Factor.
02/10/2010 - It's the first show of the judges houses and Matt decides to sing "If I Were a Boy" by Beyoncé in an attempt to persuade Danni Minogue that he should be in her final 3.
25/09/2010 - Simon asks at the end of Matt's performance "why didn't we notice him before?". It was a fantastic version of "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" and just watch the reaction of his fellow contestants in the audience as they realise what they're up against!
28/08/2010 - It was the first time we saw Matt Cardle on Saturday night and he took no time at all to impress the judges.