JLS were primed and ready to go... ‘The name,’ says Marvin, ‘came from our British identity.’ Jack the Lad Swing was a composite of their cheeky onstage persona and the US music genre New Jack Swing that had birthed their favourite boybands, Jodeci and Boyz II Men. ‘Britain had never had one of those before,’ says JB. ‘There were a lot of quality UK solo acts like Lemar and Craig David, but Oritsé had spotted a gap in the market that we wanted to fill. But to do it with a British twist.’

From the outset it was clear that JLS were not usual X Factor fodder. A year’s worth of disciplined rehearsal had turned them into something special. ‘Everyone said to us’ says Oritsé, ‘from the producers to the judges to the back-stage crew at X Factor ‘we can’t believe that you’re a real group.’ That was alien to us. We couldn’t believe that people would go for it if they weren’t. Everyone at The X Factor has a TV show to look after,’ says JB, ‘we had our lives and our careers to look after.’