Will Young

Born: January 20 1979
Where: Wokingham, England, UK

The Pop Idol winner and singing star made his big screen debut as gay theatre producer Bertie in the British comedy drama Mrs Henderson Presents.

"The part just seemed perfect for me," said Young, who has had a string of hits since winning the Pop Idol contest in 2002.

The son of an engineering company boss and a nursery manageress, he attended Wellington public school and studied politics at Exeter University.

In 2001, he joined thousands of other hopefuls in Pop Idol, a TV contest organised by pop mogul Simon Fuller, the man behind the Spice Girls.

The contestants made their UK television debut in October, with the vote eventually coming down to a choice between Young and 17-year old A-level student Gareth Gates.

Despite seemingly overwhelming public support for the endearing Gates, Young triumphed on final night...and shocked his fans further when he declared he was gay.

He racked up record-breaking advance orders of 1.2m million for the double a-side Anything Is Possible/Evergreen and the single went straight to number one.

Subsequent hits included his version of The Doors' Light My Fire, Leave Right Now and Friday's Child.

In 2005, he landed his debut feature role in Mrs Henderson Presents after initially just singing a song for the soundtrack.