THE MAN WHO TURNS THEM INTO SINGERS

Voice coach Mark De-lisser says he can turn the non-singing contestants into vocalists in just hours. ‘Anyone can be taught to sing to a certain standard,’ he insists. ‘Give me three or four hours and I think I can get a good sound out of anyone.’

Mark, who’s worked with Ariana Grande and Jessie J, says the nonsingers often end up surprising themselves. ‘Take former footballer Teddy Sheringham last year, who said, “I don’t think I’m going to be very good.” By the end he was saying, “I never thought I could do that.”’ The stars submit a list of songs, and Mark chooses a couple he thinks they can achieve. Then they rehearse over Zoom, but going on stage is the big test. ‘It’s that moment with all the sound and the lights, that’s when our jobs take another leap up because we’ve got to make sure they can see where they’re going first, and that they can hear themselves. That’s when they really start to panic.’