Matt Cardle was just an ordinary guy who once worked as a bricklayer, postman, milkman before recently working as a painter and decorator and then auditioning for "The X Factor". The guy who was born in Southampton, Hampshire, England on April 15, 1983 also became a member of pop/rock band Darwyn before joining another band Seven Summers and releasing an indie self-titled album with them in 2009.

A year later, he applied for "X Factor" and advanced to the "bootcamp" stage for his rendition of Amy Winehouse"s "You Know I'm No Good". He was later under the direction of mentor Dannii Minogue and made it to the finale with Rebecca Ferguson.

He was crowned the winner of "X Factor" season 7 by receiving 44.61|percent| of the vote from viewers. He performed with Rihanna in "Unfaithful" on the first night of the two-part finale show of the singing competition. His debut single "When We Collide", a retitled cover of Biffy Clyro"s "Many of Horror", debuted at No. 1 on U.K. singles chart on the Christmas week.