Singer born in Little Sutton sees band booted off The X Factor

THE dream is over for a Little Sutton-born singer whose band had made it through to the judges’ houses stage in The X Factor.

As singing duo Poisonous Twin, 21-year-old Sophie Houghton and best friend Stephanie McMichael, 23, had been chosen by mentor Louis Walsh as one of the acts he took to Las Vegas for a chance to sing for a place in the live shows.

But despite initially impressing Louis and guest judge Geri Halliwell at their first audition, who said she found them ‘really fun’, the girls failed to make it past the crucial stage which sees the final 12 acts performing live in public each week.

But after their departure from the show last Saturday, Sophie, who lived in Ledsham Park until the age of nine and is still a regular visitor to Ellesmere Port, wrote on the band’s Twitter page that the duo plan to ‘definitely’ carry on singing’, and apologised for ‘disappointing’ their fans.

Hundreds of supportive tweets followed, encouraging the pair to keep going and ‘not give up’.

Speaking to the Pioneer last week about her life in Ellesmere Port, Sophie said: “I have lots of fond memories of the place before we moved to Birkenhead and my nan and auntie still live there now so I go back quite often.

“We moved to Birkenhead when I was young but I have lots of memories of Ellesmere Port, like going to the market and doing car boot sales.”