X Factor dream comes true for Matt Cardle
Matt Cardle wins X Factor and swaps his paintbrush for a record deal
He was the cheeky painter and decorator from Essex who won the UK's hearts with his scruffy charm and sensational voice.
But Matt Cardle is unlikely to pick up a paintbrush again after beating Rebecca Ferguson to win The X Factor in a victory that will make him a multi-millionaire.
More than 20 million people tuned in on Sunday night to see boy-next-door Cardle secure the £1 million (Dh5.8 million) recording deal.
And he broke down in tears as the other finalists ran on to the stage to congratulate him, saying: "Thanks from the bottom of my heart to everyone who voted for me. It feels really good to be putting a record out soon.
"To be the last man standing is just mind blowing."
Boy band One Direction lost out earlier in the evening after coming third in the viewers' vote, despite heavy backing from mentor Simon Cowell.
But 27-year-old Cardle has been favourite to win during most of the competition and has impressed judges and fans with his edgy style, delivering his own take on songs by stars as varied as Britney Spears to Elton John.
His winner's single will be a cover version of Scottish band Biffy Clyro's Many of Horror (When We Collide) and is expected to be the Christmas number one.
His mentor Dannii Minogue said: "He totally deserves it. Rebecca was incredible competition tonight. He didn't really believe he had it."
His mother, Jenny, could barely contain her tears after congratulating her son, saying: "I am just so proud of him. I have always believed in him, I just didn't realise it was going to work out so well. I think he's brilliant. I am glad other people do as well."
Such is his popularity — and the popularity of this year's show, which has regularly pulled in audiences in excess of 17 million — that he is expected to make £5 million in the next year.
He is likely to earn £2 million from record sales, a further £1 million from recording sales, and around £2 million from modelling and commercial deals.
But while he has portrayed himself as a manual worker who dreams of making it as a star, Cardle comes from what friends have described as a "nice, middle class family" and attended the £15,000-a-year Stoke College boarding school.
Surviving Cancer
It is understood that he only worked as a painter and decorator to fund time in the recording studio and to make an album with his old band Seven Summers.
He grew up in a £500,000, four-bedroom detached redbrick home in the village of Little Maplestead, Essex, and his parents own a logistics consultancy firm called Frazer-Nash Associates.
Cardle is certainly a fighter, having had a kidney removed after suffering from cancer at the age of two.
He went on to quit school at 16 and attend a £500-a-week summer drama college, where he formed a band called Darwyn. He was the main songwriter in the group, which lasted for two years.
From there he joined alternative rock band Seven Summers, and released an album shortly before he auditioned for The X Factor.
Viewers will have noticed subtle changes to his style as the competition progressed — he now regularly has a spray tan, has had his hair styled and his teeth whitened.
Since the live shows began two months ago, fans have been won over by his good looks and impressive voice, but his honesty has also won him admirers in a year when the show has been dogged by rumours that results have been fixed or leaked.
Cardle famously criticised Simon Cowell for keeping Katie Waissel in the show because she was good for ratings, and hit out at former rival Wagner Carrihlo for his lack of talent.
Sunday's grand finale, which saw Take That make a return to the show to perform their hit Never Forget with the three finalists, is expected to have garnered TV network ITV's biggest audience of the year.
Cardle delivered a rendition of Katy Perry's Fireworks — which Cowell hailed as one of his best performances yet. Ferguson was also told that she had "one heck of a recording voice" by Cowell after her performance of Eurythmics' classic Sweet Dreams.
The mother of two, who has studied to be a legal secretary to give her young children a better start in life, was commended as a "wonderful role model" and Louis Walsh said she was living proof that "nice people could do well".
Recording deals
One Direction sang Torn, first made famous by Natalie Imbruglia, prompting the judges to insist that regardless of whether they won the competition they would get a recording deal. Cowell insisted: "This is just the beginning for these boys."
Band member Zain Malik said: "We are going to stay together and this is not the last you have seen of One Direction."
All of the top five acts in the competition — Cardle, Ferguson, One Direction, Cher Lloyd and Mary Byrne — will be handed recording deals.
A source close to Cowell said he felt all of them had potential to be very successful and would appeal to different demographics.
The source said: "This is the biggest shop window in Britain. We are looking at potentially five millionaires. This series has been the most popular and everyone who is left has huge followings. They all have their own appeal and quite separate fan bases."
