Career: After three years on the CBBC drama, he and co-star Declan Donnelly began a singing career using their Byker Grove character names PJ and Duncan. Following a string of hit singles they landed their own TV series in 1995 using their real names. The BBC's Ant and Dec Show paved the way for Ant and Dec Unzipped on Channel 4. They then helmed ITV's Saturday morning shows SM:TV Live and CD:UK, teaming up with co-host Cat Deeley. Their first family show was BBC One's Friends Like Us, but ITV signed them full-time to front such prime-time shows as Pop Idol, Slap Bang with Ant and Dec, I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!, Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway, PokerFace, Britain's Got Talent, Red or Black and Push the Button. They've won an impressive number of trophies for their work, including numerous National Television Awards. The duo returned to acting in a 2002 tribute to the Likely Lads and in the 2006 film Alien Autopsy. Neither were particularly well-received.

Career: Donnelly and McPartlin were snapped up by a record company, first hitting the charts under character names PJ and Duncan. The pair moved on to success as presenters of SM:TV, Friends Like These, Pop Idol, Britain's Got Talent, Red or Black, I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! and Saturday Night Takeaway. The duo returned to the music business with the 2002 football anthem We're on the Ball, and in 2013, their most famous single, Let's Get Ready to Rhumble, hit number one. They have also turned their hands to producing, with two series of the celebrity golf show The All-Star Cup to their credit. They made their big-screen debut in the 2006 comedy Alien Autopsy.

Career: At the age of 29, Cowell was approached to help create the S Records label. Five, Westlife, and Robson and Jerome helped boost his coffers. He later sold his share in the company to BMG for a reported $42million. The brains behind more than 60 million record sales and 25 number one singles became a public figure after appearing as a judge on Pop Idol. The show made Stateside producers sit up and take notice, so when the US version, American Idol, aired, he repeated his success across the pond. Back in the UK, his production company, Syco, is responsible for The X Factor, Britain's Got Talent and Red or Black? He left American Idol in 2010 and launched The X Factor in competition to it in the States a year later. The US version of The X Factor struggled to find a sizable audience and it was cancelled after three seasons. In 2014, Cowell returned to the judging panel of the UK version of The X Factor.

Career: Holden's first dramatic role was as a murder victim in the Edward Woodward series In Suspicious Circumstances. Bit parts in EastEnders and the Julie Walters film Intimate Relations (1996) paved the way for larger roles in The Grimleys, Kiss Me Kate, Happy Birthday Shakespeare and other TV dramas, as well as filling in for Judy Finnigan on ITV's This Morning. She also appeared in the Anthony Edwards movie Don't Go Breaking My Heart (1999), steamy miniseries The Hunt and short-lived sitcom Big Top. Arguably her most successful acting projects have been Cutting It and Wild at Heart. She has been on the judging panel of Britain's Got Talent since 2007 and played the role of Princess Fiona in the West End production of Shrek the Musical in 2011. In 2013, she published her autobiography, No Holding Back.

Career: For five years, Mis-Teeq enjoyed success on both sides of the Atlantic, with huge hits including Scandalous and Roll On. Dixon, with her distinctive voice and stunning looks, was the most popular member of the group, but her attempt to launch a solo career fell flat. Winning Strictly Come Dancing in 2007 turned her into a household name. On the back of her popularity, she released her album The Alesha Show. The official debut single from the album, The Boy Does Nothing, became her first solo top 10 hit. She also took part in a charity climb up Mount Kilimanjaro for Comic Relief. Dixon became a Strictly Judge in 2009, but left three years later to become a judge on Britain's Got Talent.