The X Factor: Face to face

TV Addict gets up close and personal with the final 12 at the X Factor press conference...

Stacey Solomon | The X Factor final 12 star makeovers | Pictures | Now Magazine | Celebrity Gossip

Stacey Solomon: Officially lovely

I had the pleasure of meeting the X Factor finalists in the flesh this week.

That's right, not only did I get to shake hands with them I got quite a few kisses on the cheek too. I'm not sure if this was a good thing or not.

To take a favourite phrase from reality show wannabes the world over, it was a bit of an emotional rollercoaster.

Let's start with the boys. Lloyd, Rikki and Joseph were all very lovely. Cleary Rikki's hat collection was getting an outing with them all sporting one of his caps.

Joseph is much better looking in real life and Lloyd will clearly be a bit of a heartthrob.

Now, while they were all very nice getting anything interesting out of them was a bit like getting blood from a stone. I think they my have been media trained to within an inch of their lives. At least I hope that's the case.

Next up were the girls. I LOVE Stacey. She's dippy in a Helen from Big Brother kind of way - really excited and generally quite sweet. The baby pink velour tracksuit she was wearing though was a little suspect, but I shall forgive her that.

Lucie also semed very sweet and was sporting some rather nice hair extensions, while Rachel was really good fun. Overall the girls done good.

The over 25s were next and they didn't disappoint. While we waited for them to be allowed to speak to us, the boys had their own little dance off. Obviously.

Danyl was very chaming, open and sweet. Olly seemed quite shy and a bit unsure about the whole thing, while Jamie was quieter than I expected, but really nice.

They easily the best bunch to interview because they actually said something of interest that didn't involve how much they love their mentor / each other / their fans etc. etc. etc.

Finally I had the pleasure fo the groups. Kandy Rain were loud, like really loud, and rather brash too, but they were quite good fun. I notice though that Coco, who has had her porn past splashed across the papers, was pretty much mute.

Miss Frank seemed OK, but Grazielle was by far the loudest and most in your face, which meant you didn't really get to find out anything about the other too which as a shame.

Saving the worst for last, I give you John and Edward. They were very young and trying very hard. They seemed to follow us around the room in a slightly stalkerish fashion.

When I did interview them they began by saying they would never give the easy answers or ever hold back. They then proceeded to do just that for the next three questions and believe me, I did point that out to them and it made no difference.

They also said I looked like Avril Lavinge. Boys, this is not exactly the best way to win me over.

I would like to add that when I got back to the office I took part in the office sweepstake and picked John and Edwrd out of the hat. That, my friends, is karma.