(Image: PA)
A North East-born X Factor winner is coming to Teesside this week as part of his regional tour.
Joe McElderry is heading to Billingham's Forum Theatre on Saturday (October 17), as part of a run of dates across the North East.
The tour has already visited Hartlepool, Consett, Whitley Bay, Alnwick, Northallerton and McElderry’s home town of South Shields, before moving to Blyth and Newcastle after his Billingham show.
The show will feature songs from across McElderry’s career, including chart hits, fan requests, ballads and material from his stage work.
Joe McElderry wins the X-Factor, December 2009. (Image: CHANNEL 4)
Many will know McElderry from his victory in the sixth series of The X Factor in 2009, when he beat Olly Murs in the final to claim the title.
He performed Miley Cyrus' The Climb in the final, with the track later becoming his debut single and topping the UK and Irish charts.
His win earned him a recording contract with Syco, the label associated with The X Factor, and he went on to release five albums that reached the UK top 20, including two in the top three.
Since winning The X Factor, McElderry has gone on to forge a varied career spanning music, television and theatre, including triumphs on Popstar to Operastar and The Jump.
North East singer Joe McElderry is heading to Billingham Forum as part of a regional tour. (Image: Supplied)
In 2015, he starred as Joseph in a touring production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, the musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice.
McElderry also toured the UK in 2022 with the Freedom Tour - a tribute to the music of George Michael.
Born in South Shields, McElderry attended Harton Technology College before studying at South Tyneside College and Newcastle College.
He first auditioned for The X Factor in 2007, reaching the bootcamp stage before choosing to leave the competition.
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McElderry returned to the show two years later, singing Luther Vandross’s “Dance with My Father” at his audition before winning the show under the mentorship of Cheryl Cole in December 2009.
His Teesside appearance comes amid growing speculation that The X Factor could return to UK television after a seven-year absence.
The Billingham show is one of several North East dates bringing the former X Factor champion back to the region where his career began.