In 2008, on the fifth series of the British reality television series The X Factor, an outstanding star was among many seeking fame in the musical talent hunt competition. That star was and still is Alexandra Burke, who was later ranked best and winner of the competition. Since rising to the forefront of show business, she has pursued her musical career to enviable heights, leaving no stone unturned in the process. Check out everything she’s been up to below, including who we know her mom must be and whether or not she has a man in her life.
Alexandra Burke -Biography
Alexandra Burke (Alexandra Imelda, Cecelia Ewen)Burke) was born on August 25, 1988 in Islington, London, to David Burke and Melissa Bell, one of their 5 children. She has siblings: Sheneice, David Jr, Aaron and Jahzeel. Growing up, she had the responsibility to always watch over her siblings, as her mother, a musician, was often on tour with her band. In 1992, her parents separated, but they continued to parent their children until they were old enough to fend for themselves.
As a child, Alexandra was already taking after her mother who was doing well in her music career at the time. She started singing at the age of 5 and had her biggest stage performance in Bahrain when she accompanied her mother with her band “Soul II Soul” as a 9 year old girl. Three years later, the future X Factor star made history as the youngest person to appear on Star for a Night, where she appeared second.
Seeing that Alexandra Burke had so much passion for music, her mother began to prepare the ground for her by establishing contact between her and Steve Wonder, and Jean Carne who, without hesitation, had her perform on stage, one night after. hearing her sing.
As she finished Elizabeth Garrett Anderson School where she passed her secondary education certificate, Alexandra embarked on a serious musical career, singing in popular nightclubs as well as with “Young Voices”, an association which collects fund for children with leukemia.
She took her first step into stardom in 2005 when she auditioned for The X Factor. After reaching the last 7 of her category, Louis Walsh, Irish artist and former judge of the series, did not choose Alexandra Burker for the final of the 4 on the grounds of her youth. Nevertheless, being stubborn and resilient, Alexandra auditioned for the talent show again in 2008 and this time she impressed judge Cheryl Cole who cast her for the live show.
Alexandra Burke won the competition with 58% of the total 8 million votes cast for the final contestants. As the winner, she signed a recording contract with Syco, a music label owned by Sony Music Entertainment. The contract amounted to 1 million pounds. In February 2009, she signed a five-disc deal with Epic Records for a US record worth £3.5 million. She then released her debut album titled Overcome in the same year, followed by her second album Heartbreak Pending (2012) and The Truth Is (2018).
Net value
She’s certainly had some good times in her music career with bigger and better things to come. So far, Alexandra Burke has a net worth of around $8 million, or £6.3 million.
Family: mom, boyfriend or husband
The 2008 X Factor star was born to Melissa Bell (March 5, 1964 – August 28, 2017) a renowned soul and R&B singer who sang with the band ‘Soul II Soul’. She studied at Southwark College in London Borough of Southwark before working as a customer service representative for Marks and Spencer (1982 1991). Bell is noted for musical works like Walk on the Wild Side (1991), Blended (1997), Into My World (2000) and Innocent Until Proven Guilty (2009). She died in 2007 after a prolonged battle with kidney failure.
Alexandra Burke’s heart has been taken for a long time, she started dating Josh Ginnelly in April 2016 and the two have remained very close to each other which led to their engagement earlier in 2018. However , before Josh, the reality TV star dated soccer star Jermaine Defoe (in 2012) who later cheated on her with model Laura Brown. Football goalkeeper Dominique Jean-Zephirin became her next love for a year before a certain Louis from Channel 4’s First 4 was rumored to be her partner.
All those other men never stayed long enough to ask her the question, “Will you marry me,” but Josh Ginelly did on December 18, 2017 in Paris and she said yes. However, they are not yet married, but they will certainly when the time is right for them.