Ray Quinn biography
Raymond Arthur "Ray" Quinn (born 25 August 1988 in Liverpool, Merseyside) is an English actor, singer, and dancer. He finished second in talent show The X Factor in 2006, and won the 2009 series of Dancing on Ice. He also appeared as victimised teenager Anthony Murray in the Channel 4 soap opera Brookside. In his theatre performance, as of December 2010, he announced on stage his engagement to Emma Stephens which was made on Christmas Day 2010. They wed in a beach ceremony in Barbados on March 31st 2012, the same day they announced they were expecting their 1st child that is due is July.
Early life
Quinn attended Rudston Junior School in Childwall and Gateacre Comprehensive School, Liverpool. From a very young age a major influence in his life was his dance coach Suzanne Taylor. Quinn often claims that his interests in dancing led to him being isolated from his peers during his childhood.
Quinn went on to study Performing Arts at Merseyside Dance and Drama Centre for a three-year course where he completed two years before joining the X Factor finals.
Quinn has married his West End co-star Emma Stephens.
Singing career
The X Factor (2006)
In 2006, Quinn took part in the third series of UK talent show
The X Factor.
Quinn was in the 16-24s category which was mentored by Simon Cowell. As the category's mentor, Cowell chose which contestants made it to the live rounds of the show. Initially, Quinn did not make Cowell's selection of seven contestants for the later stages of the competition, but Cowell subsequently "felt he had made a mistake". It was then decided that the seven should be expanded to eight, and Quinn was called back. Quinn went on to be chosen as one of Cowell's final four contestants who would appear in the live rounds of the competition.
Many of Quinn's X Factor performances had an old-fashioned feel, and in the earlier stages of the competition he was criticised by judge Louis Walsh for repeatedly performing swing-style numbers. Judge Sharon Osbourne once referred to him as "panto boy" and the judges generally queried his ability as a pure singer as opposed to a "song-and-dance man".
For the first four weeks of the series Quinn survived in the contest without being in the bottom two sing-off. In week five, however, Quinn, along with Nikitta Angus, polled the fewest votes from the public. Walsh voted for Quinn to leave the competition, but Cowell and Osbourne voted in Quinn's favour, keeping him in the contest. Quinn then survived the next four weeks, in the penultimate week gaining the highest number of votes from the public, before eventually narrowly finishing as runner-up to Leona Lewis in the final a week later.
Following the conclusion of the show, Quinn participated in The X Factor UK and Ireland Tour with the other finalists from the third series. This took place in February and March 2007.
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