Ricky John, 36, from southwest London, walked onto The X Factor stage with a story few people in the arena expected. He told the judges he had spent around eight years without a home and had been on his own since he was about 16. Everything changed when he met his partner, who gave him two children and, as he put it, his smile back.
For his audition he picked Sam Cooke’s A Change Is Gonna Come, a song that fit his own life perfectly. Tired from sleepless nights with a new baby, his voice wobbled at one point, but he steadied himself and kept going while Wembley Arena got louder and louder. 🎶
The judges were won over. One told him he was rocking Wembley, and another praised both his voice and his personality. One judge even said the shaky moment was when they liked him most, because he picked himself up and carried on.
Ricky left the stage with four yeses and heard the words he had been waiting years for: he had just changed his life. ❤️
