Shards of light pierced the ceiling as four plinths rose slowly from the stage. The atmosphere inside Manchester Arena on 27 January 2013 was electric as the 23,000-strong crowd began cheering and hollering. This was the moment they’d been waiting for and the anticipation was at fever pitch. Slowly, the plinths rose up many feet into the air, in front of a dramatic starlit backdrop, and the thousands of fans in the audience began shouting and crying even louder. The spotlights shone down onto the four boys each standing on a plinth as they stopped, positioning the singers high above the arena crowd, desperate to hear from them, many feet below. Illuminated by the dramatic light effects and with adrenalin coursing through their bodies, each boy took his microphone and began singing the first few bars of Leona Lewis’s huge hit, ‘Bleeding Love’. It was a moment none of them could have imagined happening to them just a few months ago when their dreams were just that – dreams.

      On the far left, wearing a blazer and trousers like the rest of the group, with his hair styled into a sharp quiff, was Jamie ‘JJ’ Hamblett, 24 at that moment. A genuinely decent guy, with handsome looks and a past career as a jockey, he had thought his future lay on the racetracks of Britain, not in its arenas. Standing next to him was Josh Cuthbert, only 20, but already a veteran of previous boybands that hadn’t worked out. Devastatingly handsome, charming and with a self-deprecating, emotional side, Josh was finally enjoying his moment in the sun as a born pop singer and heartthrob. Next alongside him was Jaymi Hensley, the boy with the heartbreakingly amazing voice. His talent for performing had been evident since his childhood in Luton, but the 23-year-old had been disappointed time and time again trying to get his career off the ground. Now every inch the star, with his tousled hair, bags of charisma and magnetic personality, he poured every inch of his emotion into the performance. As the song moved on, George Shelley, the youngest member of the group at just 19, took the second verse as a solo. With his sideswept brown curls and incredible cheekbones, he had the pop idol looks and sweet personality that made all around him melt.

      The plinths began slowly descending back down as the song turned into ‘Broken Strings’ by James Morrison and Nelly Furtado. As it built to a crescendo, the four boys began harmonising effortlessly together and stepped onto the stage, walking around and acknowledging the fans, who screamed with delight as their idols noticed them. The spotlights shone red, yellow and blue over the band and dry ice billowed around, highlighting their similarities and differences at the same time. They were a group, dressed with clothes and hairstyles that echoed each other, but they were also individuals, moving separately around the stage, each of them letting their distinctive voices shine. ‘One more time, please sing with us, Manchester!’ called Josh, as the song reached its climax. Fireworks poured down around them onto the stage as the fans in the audience launched into the loudest screams and claps yet. Jaymi and Josh walked to the front section of the stage, which jutted out into the audience. ‘How are we feeling, Manchester?’ yelled Jaymi, as he took in the amazing sight before him, pointing at the thousands of people who cheered his every word. The reception was even more fevered when George, stage right, began speaking. ‘You’re all having a good night, yeah?’ he asked, as he waved at the fans hanging onto his every word and movement. ‘We just want to say a massive, massive thank you to each and every one of you for the support you’ve given us over the last few months,’ Jaymi told the audience. Behind him, George punched the air in delight and did a little star jump. Just like the other boys onstage, he was filled with happiness at this amazing moment.

      They were Union J, and this was The X Factor 2013 Live Tour. The band hadn’t existed until only a few months previously, and it had been a journey of laughter and tears, highs and lows that had pushed them all to the limits of joy and sorrow. It might have been early days for the group, but thanks to their involvement in the biggest TV show in Britain, they were already stars. With their debut single about to come out that summer, and the group set to become one of the UK’s biggest boybands, Union J’s future was golden. But getting there had been far from easy …

      The beginning of the 1990s was an exciting time in Britain, as people waved goodbye to the Eighties and ushered in a brand-new decade, with new fashions and new music on the horizon. And on 24 February 1990, just a couple of days before dramatic storms hit the country, a little baby was born whose love of music and performing would change his life – Jaymi Hensley. Born James William Hensley in Luton, a town a little over 30 miles north of London, Jaymi was the first child for his mum Jackie and dad David (if he’d been a girl, he would have been called Amber!).

      They lived in the village of Stopsley, where Jaymi’s mum worked in the local newsagent’s, Hendersons. Jaymi was a cute little boy,