Rylan Clark
Ross Richard Clark, known by the stage name Rylan Clark or simply Rylan, is an English broadcaster and television personality. He came to prominence as a contestant on the ninth series of the talent show The X Factor in 2012, in which he finished in fifth place. The following year, he appeared on the eleventh series of the reality show Celebrity Big Brother, which he won.
Clark went on to present various television shows, including Big Brother's Bit on the Side '', This Morning, The Xtra Factor, Up Late with Rylan, Supermarket Sweep, Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two, Ready Steady Cook and You Are What You Wear''. Since 2018, he has served as a semi-final co-commentator of the Eurovision Song Contest and has presented various shows on BBC Radio 2.
Early life
Ross Richard Clark was born on 25 October 1988 in the Stepney area of London, to mother Linda Clark. He went to a Catholic primary school and was an altar server. Until he was 11, Clark lived with his mother, older brother Jamie and grandmother Rose in a council house in the Stepney Green neighbourhood in London's East End. After the family moved to Essex, Clark was educated at Coopers' Company and Coborn School in Upminster.Career
Career beginnings
Clark auditioned for S Club Juniors in 2001 when he was 12, but failed to get a place in the band. He then became a part-time model when he was 16. It was during his early modelling career that he adopted the stage name "Rylan", which was conceived when he went into a branch of WHSmith and chose the name from the R section of a baby name book. In 2007, he applied for Big Brother 8, but, "the day I was going in, it got taken away from me because it got leaked to the press. It was devastating." He was in several Take That and Westlife tribute bands in Ibiza, and was also part of a Spanish boy band called 4bidden until 2010.In 2010, he appeared in four episodes of the BBC series John Bishop's Britain. He was then a finalist on the Sky Living modelling series Signed by Katie Price.
''The X Factor''
In May 2012, Clark auditioned for the ninth series of The X Factor at The O2 Arena in London in front of Louis Walsh, Gary Barlow, Tulisa and guest judge Rita Ora. He performed a dance version of Des'ree's "Kissing You". Afterwards, Barlow said: "Rylan, love your personality, hate your voice, really strange song choice as well." Walsh also admitted that he was "a bit worried". Barlow gave Clark a "no", but Ora, Tulisa and Walsh all decided to say "yes" and put him through to bootcamp.At bootcamp, Clark sang the Pussycat Dolls' "Don't Cha" with former Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger, who was then a judge. After his performance, Barlow admitted: " think he's going to haunt me throughout this competition." Barlow was reluctant to send Clark through to judges' houses, but the other three judges were in favour of him advancing. Clark was eventually put through into the boys category with Scherzinger as his mentor. At judges' houses in Dubai, he performed a stripped-back rendition of Rihanna's "We Found Love" in front of Scherzinger and Ne-Yo. Scherzinger later put Clark through to the live shows as one of her final three acts with James Arthur and Jahméne Douglas. She told him: "Rylan, it's such a big risk... but I have to take it, and you are in my final three", and he appeared to have an immense breakdown.
Clark sang "Gold" by Spandau Ballet in the first week of the live shows, and was in the bottom two with Carolynne Poole the following night. Scherzinger voted to save Clark, as he was her act, while Barlow and Tulisa voted to save Poole, based on their final showdown performance. Walsh, who had the casting vote, voted to save him, sending the result to deadlock, in which Clark had received more public votes than Poole and was saved, much to the disgust of Barlow, who stormed off stage and who later called Clark a "joke act" and "talentless".
In week 2, Clark continued to annoy Barlow by first performing part of Barlow's "Back for Good" and then claiming that he had booked him a cab in advance in case he stormed off-stage again, to which Barlow responded "That's funny I've had yours on hold for two weeks." That week, he was put through to week three on the public vote. In week 5, he was again in the bottom two with Kye Sones, but he was saved by the public vote. This happened after Barlow and Walsh voted to eliminate Clark, while Scherzinger and Tulisa, who had the casting vote, voted to eliminate Sones. Tulisa sent the result to deadlock and Sones was eliminated. In week 7, Clark revealed on The Xtra Factor that his psychic had told him that he would reach week 7 of the competition before leaving. The following night, he advanced to the quarter-final through the public vote, before being eliminated by the judges in the quarter-final, with only Scherzinger voting to save him over Union J.
| Episode | Theme | Song | Result |
| First audition | Free choice | "Kissing You" | Through to bootcamp |
| Bootcamp – stage 1 | Group performance | "Respect" with Ottavio Columbro and Gathan Cheema | Through to stage 2 |
| Bootcamp – stage 2 | Solo performance | "Don't Cha" | Through to judges' houses |
| Judges' houses | Free choice | "We Found Love" | Through to the live shows |
| Live show 1 | Heroes | "Gold" | Bottom two |
| Live show 1 | Final showdown | "One Night Only" | Saved |
| Live show 2 | Love and heartbreak | "Back for Good" / "Groove Is in the Heart" / "Gangnam Style" / "Pump Up the Jam" | Safe |
| Live show 3 | Club classics | "On the Floor" / "Don't Stop the Music" / "I See You Baby" | Safe |
| Live show 4 | Halloween | "Toxic" / "Horny" / "Poison" | Safe |
| Live show 5 | Number-ones | "Hung Up" / "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! " | Bottom two |
| Live show 5 | Final showdown | "Kissing You" | Saved |
| Live show 6 | Best of British | "Say You'll Be There" / "Who Do You Think You Are" / "Wannabe" / "Spice Up Your Life" | Safe |
| Live show 7 | Guilty pleasures | "Girls on Film" / "When Will I Be Famous?" | Safe |
| Quarter-final | Songs by ABBA | "Mamma Mia" | Bottom two |
| Quarter-final | Motown songs | "Baby Love" / "Stop! In the Name of Love" / "You Keep Me Hangin' On" | Bottom two |
| Quarter-final | Final showdown | "Wires" | Eliminated |
''Celebrity Big Brother''
Clark became a housemate in the eleventh series of Celebrity Big Brother in January 2013. He was the second celebrity to enter the Big Brother House. On launch night, Clark and Italian jockey Frankie Dettori selected which celebrities would join them in the House and who would be banished to the Basement. It was revealed midway through the series that, contrary to the show's rules of staying in the Big Brother House throughout the series, he had been leaving the house each Sunday to rehearse for The X Factor tour, which began a day after the live final on 25 January. He made it to the final five with Neil "Razor" Ruddock, Claire Richards, Ryan Moloney and Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt. Clark was announced as the winner during the live final, after which he broke down into tears.Channel 5 (2013–2018)
On 14 May 2013, as part of a revamp by Channel 5, Clark and AJ Odudu were announced as the new co-hosts of Big Brother's Bit on the Side, replacing Jamie East and Alice Levine. Emma Willis replaced Brian Dowling as host of Big Brother. In the 2015 series of Celebrity Big Brother UK vs USA, he also presented Bit on the Side on the weekends. For this series, the programme was renamed Bit on the State Side and filmed in an American-style studio. He presented Big Brother's Bit on the Side until the series was cancelled by Channel 5 in 2018.In October 2015, Clark co-presented a special edition of Most Haunted Live with Jamie East on Really. In May 2016, he presented his own prime time chat show for Channel 5 called Up Late with Rylan. The show ended after one series.
ITV (2014–2020, 2023–)
During the tenth series of The X Factor, Clark provided the gossip from the show on This Morning and also acted as a Hub presenter until its removal from the programme in 2014. Since late 2014, Clark has also been credited as the main relief presenter for the series. He has presented with others including Ruth Langsford, Lorraine Kelly, Dan Neal, Alison Hammond, Phillip Schofield, Holly Willoughby, Amanda Holden, Sarah Greene, Geri Halliwell, Gok Wan, Lisa Snowdon, Emma Willis, Rochelle Humes and Eamonn Holmes. On 1 July 2016, it was confirmed that Clark would co-host The Xtra Factor Live with Matt Edmondson. This would be the second time that a former X Factor contestant has co-hosted the series, the first being Olly Murs, who had co-hosted from 2011 to 2012.In January 2017, it was announced that Clark would present a new daytime game show for ITV called Babushka. The show ended after one series. Clark also hosted a non-broadcast pilot for ITV2 panel show Codswallop. However, it was not commissioned for a full series. In December 2017, Rylan took a break from This Morning from the following January for a few months. Clark returned to This Morning briefly in both April 2018, July 2018 and August 2018 as a main show stand-in presenter. On 10 July 2019, it was revealed that he would present a revived version of Supermarket Sweep. The first series aired on ITV2 on 9 September 2019 to 4 October 2019. The second series aired on 1 September to 19 December 2020, however, the show moved to its original channel ITV.
In August 2025, while presenting This Morning, Clark made remarks about asylum seekers and illegal immigration that highlighted public concerns over taxpayer costs and limited vetting and monitoring of illegal migrants, which had in some cases been linked to criminal activity, prompting discussion. His remarks included claims about the support provided to asylum seekers, which some commentators criticised as misleading and contributing to negative perceptions of immigration. He later addressed the matter on Twitter, emphasising nuanced positions on social and political issues. His remarks were noted by some commentators in right-wing press as indicative of a shifting media debate and public opinion. Other press sources, however, pointed out the mistakes in his comments, such as his claim asylum seekers get free IPads and access to five star hotels, neither of which is provided by the government.