You can’t always mask your responses, even when the cameras are on. Simon Cowell rolled his eyes when 53-year-old Jacqueline Faye walked onto the X Factor 2018 stage for her audition. It had no doubt been a long day with its share of dreary auditions, and Faye did not look like an X Factor contender. She looked like a middle-aged mother dressed for a significant family event. The impression wasn’t helped when the nervous, sparkly-eyed Faye listed all of the animals on her Oxfordshire farm.
After the audition aired, and Jacqueline Faye “wowed” the judges with her rendition of Cilla Black’s You’re My World, some viewers took to social media to chastise Cowell for prejudging her. See It Live quoted several tweets, with this one being the most apt: “Simon never learns. Two words: Susan Boyle. He judged her and look what she did”. Before we watch the video of Faye’s audition, I should advise you to pay attention to the very evident soft spot that Faye has for judge Robbie Williams:
After the other judges praised Jacqueline Faye (Robbie Williams said she reminded him of home. “You transport me to safety and kindness. There’s something really special about you) Cowell came close to an apology. “When you walked out I thought you’d walked out on to the wrong show by mistake”, he said, as Robbie Williams looked at him askew. “I’m thinking this isn’t going to be great, and then you were. You’re a little tiger, aren’t you? That’s why we will never put an age barrier on the show.”
Faye’s heart briefly dropped as Cowell deadpanned that his vote was no, before quickly reassuring her that it was a firm yes. From there it was soon four yeses. The most touching moment came at the end when Robbie Williams went backstage to give Faye a big warm hug. Alas, Faye didn’t make it through the “Six Chair Challenge” round of the competition, but she came ever so close. She was initially given a chair, only to have it given to a subsequent performer. Here’s a fun clip of a younger Faye:
That was Jacqueline Faye and her sixteen-year-old step-daughter Vikki Rosina on prime time Saturday night Television when they appeared on Michael Barrymore’s My Kinda Music. My kind of music was a game show that ran from 8 February 1998 to 29 March 2002.
As you might expect from the appearance on My Kinda Music, South-Wales-born Jacqueline Faye is an experienced singer. When she appeared on X Factor she had 25 years of experience as a professional singer, including a 14-year stint singing on The London Showboat. The London Showboat is a 3 1/2 hour nighttime cruise on the Thames, featuring a four-course dinner and a live singer.
After her X Factor appearance, Jacqueline Faye has continued to offer her services as a singer for hire. She is represented by Tony Bennell Entertainments. The last listing I can find online is for Jacqueline Faye Sings at the Goring Social Club, Goring, in February 2020. If you are interested in hiring Faye for an event, or wish to find out when she is performing, you can contact her agency.