2005–2013: The X Factor, Addictiv Ladies and independent releases East was in the girl group
Addictiv Ladies, who were on
series 2 of
The X Factor in 2005, mentored by
Simon Cowell, but were eliminated in week 1 after ending up in the bottom two with
Chico Slimani. She was introduced to drum-and-bass producer
DJ Fresh through her manager in 2011, and Fresh subsequently hired her as a vocalist for a
BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge session of his. East signed to the record label
Strictly Rhythm in January 2012 and released two singles as the lead artist (credited as
Fleur): "Broken Mirror" with Cutline and "Turn the Lights On" (produced by
Culture Shock). She also featured on "The One" by Horx and P3000. In 2013, she featured on
Drumsound & Bassline Smith's "
One in a Million", which entered the
UK Singles Chart at number 53, and headlined the Miss Face of Africa EU ceremony in London. In December 2013, she self-released her debut EP
She for free download. One of the EP tracks, "Super Rich Royals", is a mashup cover of "
Super Rich Kids" by
Frank Ocean and "
Royals" by
Lorde. East worked as a waitress at the London nightclub
Aura Mayfair to help support her music career, and was also a fitness model with the agency W Athletic, but struggled with her finances. She later said that by early 2014, she was "definitely depressed" and considered ending her music career, until her friends and relatives encouraged her to re-audition for
The X Factor.
2014: Return to The X Factor In June 2014, East auditioned for the
eleventh series of
The X Factor. She sang
John Legend's "
Ordinary People" in her room audition, where she received three "yes" votes and progressed through to the arena auditions. She sang
Chris Brown's "
Fine China" at the arena and progressed to the boot camp stage with four "yes" votes. East made it past the six chair challenge and through to the judges' houses stage in the "Over 26s" category, mentored by Cowell once again, to whom she performed "
Bang Bang" by
Jessie J,
Ariana Grande and
Nicki Minaj. Cowell chose East for the live shows, alongside
Jay James and eventual winner
Ben Haenow. In the semi-final of the live shows, East performed "
Uptown Funk" by
Mark Ronson featuring
Bruno Mars, a rendition
The Guardians Stuart Heritage described as "truly astonishing [...] Fleur barged in and left the competition in ruins. It was two minutes and 53 seconds of all-out attack; possibly the biggest moment that any [Simon] Cowell show has produced since we first met
Susan Boyle, only this was even more surprising because we already knew Fleur, and this far she'd merely been adequate."
Popjustice declared it "the most exciting moment of the entire series [...] Whichever act wins The X Factor this coming weekend, Fleur's now established herself as the one who deserves and will undoubtedly get The Full
Ella (FKA The Full
Leona) when it comes to career rollout." East's version went to number one on the UK
iTunes Store, which led the original song to be released five weeks earlier than planned; it subsequently reached number one on the
UK Singles Chart. In the final, the show's final, East was announced as the runner-up in the competition, losing to fellow category act,
Ben Haenow with 34.3% of the votes to Haenow's 57.2%.
2015–2017: Love, Sax and Flashbacks In January 2015, East announced that she had signed to Cowell's record label
Syco Music. She recorded her debut studio album with musicians including
Wayne Hector,
the Invisible Men,
Jack Splash, and
TMS. She announced in July 2015 that she had been working on her first fashion collection with women's fashion brand Lipsy London. "
Sax", the
lead single from her debut album, was released in November 2015 and reached number three in the UK. Her debut album, titled
Love, Sax and Flashbacks, was released on 4 December. On 22 January, East released the single "
More and More". She performed the single at the
National Television Awards. In 2016, East signed with
Columbia Records to launch her international music career. In October 2017, it was revealed that East and Syco had parted ways after three years via mutual agreement.
2018–2020: ''I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!'' and return to music On 12 November 2018, East was announced as participating in that year's series of ''
I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!. East finished in fourth place on 8 December 2018. Later that month, East announced via Instagram that she would be releasing her first single in four years, "Favourite Thing". The single was released on 4 January 2019 in addition to the music video release on YouTube. East also performed the song live for the first time on television on This Morning''. In June 2019,
Bauer Media announced that East would take over hosting the breakfast show on national radio station,
Hits Radio alongside co-hosts
James Barr and Greg Burns. The first show aired on 12 July 2019. On 7 September 2019, East started hosting the Saturday Morning show 9am-12noon across the
Hits Radio Network. On 18 November 2019, East released her new single, "Size". The single was featured in the
Debenhams Christmas ad campaign. East released her new single "Lucky" on 31 January 2020 along with its official music video. The video was shot over a period of six months and includes footage from East's travels around the world. East's second album
Fearless was released on 20 March 2020. East appeared on series 16-19 of ''
Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway'' where she would go to an area of the UK and give tickets to people for a 'Takeaway Getaway' holiday from
TUI. She released the official NHS charity single "Not Alone" on 9 April 2020 with 100% of the profits going towards the
COVID-19 NHS appeal. The single premiered on
The One Show alongside its official music video.
2022–present: Strictly Come Dancing and It Takes Two Throughout the summer of 2022, East performed at
Butlin's. Later that year, she was announced as a contestant on the
twentieth series of
Strictly Come Dancing where she was partnered with Vito Coppola. Despite surviving 4 dance offs, the most any contestant has survived alongside Jamelia, Jamie Laing, and fellow series 20 contestant
Molly Rainford, she achieved the first perfect 40 of the series in Blackpool for her Couple's Choice, and finished as a series runners-up. In June 2023, East was announced to be replacing
Rylan as the co-host of the spin-off show
Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two alongside
Janette Manrara.
Saturday Night Takeaway (2020–2023) In 2020, East joined
the 16th series. She presented the competition and part of the
Place on the Plane giveaway, In 2023, East replaced North as Gift on the Shift as North present a new segment on the show. Due to her pregnancy,
Clara Amfo replaced East for the show's last series, in 2024. ==Musical style==