The Wanted

The Wanted were put together in 2009 by Jayne Collins as a male equivalent of The Saturdays, the successful all-girl group she'd previously formed. After mass auditions Collins chose an Irish former male model of Sri Lankan parentage, Siva Kaneswaran, along with Max George, Jay McGuiness, Tom Parker and Nathan Sykes. Former soccer player Max George had already enjoyed a taste of pop fame with the group Avenue, who'd reached the finals of the 2006 series of X-Factor, only to be thrown out for infringing rules about professional representation - though they went on to have a minor hit with Last Goodbye. Sharing a house in South London to work on songs, the lads hit the UK Number 1 top spot with their 2010 debut single All Time Low. Follow-up Heart Vacancy, which had originally been written for Leona Lewis, reached Number 2. Collaborating with songwriters Guy Chambers, Steve Mac, Cathy Dennis and Jamie Hartman, they also released their self-titled debut album in October, 2010, which reached Number 4 in the UK album charts, followed by third single Lose My Mind. In January, 2011 they started work on their second album.