Chico

Chico was born in Bridgend Wales, at the age of three his father took him to Oujda, Morocco to be raised by his Grandparents on the family’s small peasant farm. Life wasn’t easy for the young Yousseph Slimani; his family were poor so Chico took up goat herding to contribute to the family income, but as he says “We may have not had much money but we had a lot of love”.

Chico returned to England to live with his father in Crawley when he was 14. After leaving school, he began a Youth Training Scheme as a hairdresser, before working as an electrical engineer. Chico later showed off his torso to legions of adoring female fans - as part of the exotic dance troupe Extreme Force and later as a singer/compere with Lapattack.

Chico dreamed of being a star from a young age and for the last 10 years has been working very hard towards that aim, writing and recording countless songs in the hope of breaking into the music business. Being the all round entertainer that he is he has also tried his hand at acting and also co-wrote, starred, produced and provided the soundtrack for the BAFTA nominated short film Winner Takes All alongside his brother, actor JC Mac (see www.jcmac.co.uk) before auditioning for the X Factor in 2005.

Chico, the man who bought the ‘fun factor’ to the X Factor released his debut single – the infectious ‘It’s Chico Time’ on February 27th 2006 and hit the top spot in the UK Charts. Chico is over the moon that his dream of being number one has finally come true and is quick to say that it is all down to hard work and PMA (Positive Mental Attitude).

With fans like Robbie Williams, who came on stage at the Comedy Awards and said it was not ‘Robbie Time’ but ‘Chico Time’ and Coldplay’s singer Chris Martin, who told fans at one of his concerts, he was glad to be back in the country because it was ‘Chico Time’ – it’s not hard to see how Chico mania has gripped the country.

“The whole thing has been unbelievable,” says Chico. “I’m absolutely loving every minute of it.”

On behalf of the man himself we'd like to say a very big thank you to all the wonderful Chico’s and Chicettes out there who made this possible. What can we say? What time is it? It’s definitely ‘Chico’s time’!