Rachel Shavon Hylton (born 26 November 1981[15]) is a mother-of-five from London. She had the first of her five children at the age of 13. Problems with drugs led to a spell in prison and eventually three of her children were taken into care. Hylton was hoping to win The X Factor to make a better life for herself and her two youngest children, whom she still looks after.
In weeks one and two, she received harsh criticism from many of the show’s judges, but in week three, Simon Cowell described her rendition of ‘Feeling Good’ as ‘the best performance of the night.’ Week four Hylton was in the bottom two with Austin Drage after a disco themed show, in which her performance was described by Louis Walsh as ‘very average.’ Only Drage’s mentor, Simon Cowell, chose to save him, whilst the remaining judges kept Hylton in the competition, progressing her to week five. During the week five show Hylton performed “Against All Odds” and survived the public vote, progressing to week six. In week six Hylton was once again in the bottom two with Daniel Evans but was saved by Louis Walsh, Cheryl Cole and Simon Cowell. In week seven Hylton was in the bottom two for a third time, this time with JLS. Despite drawing praise from the judges for her sing-off performance, she was voted out by a majority of the judges because they believed JLS would progress further in the competition.
Hylton revealed to Digital Spy that she had been offered a recording contract, but, like the other contestants, could not sign it until her contract with The X Factor expired. Hylton was also rumoured to have been working with US singer John Legend and his record label but this later turned out to be false. On May 4 2009, she appeared alongside US stars Mary Mary, CeCe Winans and Kirk Franklin at the Oraclez Gospel Festival at Wembley Arena. |
