Pop Idol series two: where are they now?

Long before the days of spinny chairs and Dermot O'Leary's dad dancing, there was one telly talent show we plonked ourselves on the sofa for every Saturday night: Pop Idol

Pop Idol series 2 contestants Michelle McManus, Sam Nixon and Mark Rhodes

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Back in 2003 Simon Cowell, Neil Fox, Nicki Chapman and Pete Waterman set out to find another star after Will Young won the first series; and if you're anything like us you're probably wondering what the hell the contestants are up to now.

Don't kid yourself, hun. You're dying to know too.

So BEHOLD; a look at the contestants of Pop Idol series 2. How many of 'em do you remember?

Check out: Pop Idol series 2 - where are they now?

Gallery

Pop Idol series 2: Where are they now?

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Michelle McManus then

Michelle won the show back in 2003.

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Michelle McManus now

Michelle's debut single All This Time (it was a tune, don't deny it) reached number 1, with her album The Meaning of Love charting at number 3. Since then, she's hosted STV's The Hour and joined Loose Women as a panelist in January 2018.

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Mark Rhodes then

Mark reached the final, coming in second place.

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Mark Rhodes now

Mark had a short-lived pop career as one half of Sam & Mark (with fellow Pop Idol alumni Sam Nixon); before moving into TV hosting the likes of TMI (alongside Caroline Flack) and Top of the Pops Reloaded.

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Sam Nixon then

Sam came third in the show and we fancied him quite a lot tbh.

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Sam Nixon now

Same as Mark, really. Also, can we discuss how brilliant Sam & Mark's cover of The Beatles' With a Little Help from My Friends was?

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Chris Hide then

Oh Chris was a cutie, wasn't he?

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Chris Hide now

After finishing in fourth place, Chris is now a singing teacher in Sussex.

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Susanne Manning then

Remember Susanne? The one with the well husky voice?

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Susanne Manning now

Susanne now hosts a radio show

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Roxanne Cooper then

Roxanne Cooper came sixth.

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CREDIT: YouTube

Roxanne Cooper now

According to LinkedIn, Roxanne now owns Streetstars Dance Studio and is a professional vocalist, choreographer and IDTA dance teacher.

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CREDIT: YouTube

Andy Scott-Lee then

Who can forget Lisa Scott-Lee off of Steps' brother Andy, eh?

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Andy Scott-Lee now

Andy married Liberty X star Michelle Heaton in 2006, though they separated in 2008 and divorced shortly after. He then married Lydia Louisa, who competed in the thirteenth series of Big Brother in 2012.

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Kim Gee then

Kim had our favourite bit on the classic Pop Idol Christmas single Happy Xmas (War is Over), tbh.

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Kim Gee now

A quick Google tells us Kim released a track called Walk in the Room post-Idol. So there you go.

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Marc Dillon then

Fun fact: Marc single-handedly kept hair gel manufacturers in business.

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CREDIT: marcdillonuk.com

Marc Dillon now

He now tours as a Michael Bublé and a Robbie Williams tribute act. Classic.

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Kirsty Crawford then

She made it to the live shows, but Kirsty was eliminated after just two weeks. Poor thing.

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Kirsty Crawford now

Glaswegian Kirsty went on to audition for The X Factor and The Voice (though none of the judges turned their chair for her.)

Though they may not have enjoyed the stratospheric fame of their successors on the X Factor or BGT (we're looking at you, One Direction), the Pop Idol lot have still been making headlines recently.

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Last year series 2 winner Michelle McManus was embroiled in a vicious Twitter spat with former Geordie Shore star Vicky Pattison, who she accused of body shaming her in a recently unearthed interview with the Daily Mail from 2014.

After Vicky made a body positivity post on Instagram slamming trolls that called her fat, Michelle screengrabbed the article, where Vicky ridiculed Michelle's weight, and captioned the upload, "Yes @vickypattison because you've never publicly shamed anyone have you? Oh wait...".

The post lead to Vicky responding with a grovelling apology,

"I cannot apologise enough if my comments caused upset or hurt. I ca guarantee even then it was not my intention, just my ignorance," she said.

“I hope you can accept my apology."

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