Beginnings and The X Factor Humes' future bandmate
Oritsé Williams decided to form his own boy band after not feeling the ones he had been scouted for were right for him. Through friends, Williams met Marvin Humes who had experience in R&B and pop music, being a part of
VS in 2004. Next to join was
Aston Merrygold, who was once cast in the
ITV children's programme
Fun Song Factory, because of his athletic ability. Last to join the group was
JB Gill, chosen for his "musical ear" and harmonies. The boys bonded, became friends and together they were called
UFO (an initialism of
Unique Famous Outrageous). They signed to
Tracklacers developing a sound they then called "Jack the Lad Swing", combining the phrase "Jack the lad" and the urban music of
new jack swing. UFO then signed to
Epic Records. The band won their first award in late 2007 at the
Urban Music Awards for Best Unsigned Act thanks to their
mash-up of "
Stand by Me" by
Ben E. King and "
Beautiful Girls" by
Sean Kingston. Shortly thereafter, they released their second single, "Slap Ya Elbow". The group give credit to "DJ Triz" who produced one of UFO's first songs and helped them write it. In 2008, UFO auditioned for the
fifth series of
The X Factor, but had to change their name because it was already being used by another group. They decided to go with the name
JLS (an initialism of Jack the Lad Swing, the style created with Tracklacers some months prior). Following the elimination of girl groups
Bad Lashes and
Girlband in weeks one and two respectively, JLS were
Louis Walsh's last remaining act in the competition, but, throughout the live shows, the judges called them the best band to come out of
The X Factor. In week 7, JLS were in the bottom two along with
Rachel Hylton. However, they survived, thanks to votes from Walsh,
Cheryl Cole and
Simon Cowell. Cowell stated when casting his deciding vote that JLS did not deserve to be in the bottom two. In week 8, JLS performed "
...Baby One More Time" and received negative comments from two of the four judges, with Cowell saying "At the moment you're out." However, after their second performance, "
You Light Up My Life", Cowell commented that they were "back in the race" and that they could "have a hit record" with that performance. In week 9, JLS performed "
Umbrella" and "
I'm Already There". Cowell then predicted they would win the competition. They made it to the final and performed their own version of the winner's song, "
Hallelujah", which the other finalist, and eventual winner,
Alexandra Burke also performed. JLS were the fourth band to make the final of the competition. Following their success on
The X Factor, Cowell's record company,
Syco, were going to sign JLS; however, Cowell revoked this offer, deciding instead to focus solely on winner Burke.
2006–2013: JLS Following their appearance on
The X Factor, JLS signed to
Epic Records. Their first two singles "
Beat Again" and "
Everybody in Love" both went to number one on the
UK Singles Chart. The band's
self-titled debut album was released on 9 November 2009, and has since sold over one million copies in the UK. JLS won the awards for
British Breakthrough and
British Single ("Beat Again") at the
2010 BRIT Awards. They also won several awards at the Mobo Awards for Best song for "Beat Again" in 2009 and also Best Newcomer in the same year. In 2010, they won the
MOBO Awards for Best UK act and Best Album. They also went on to win their fifth MOBO Award in 2012 by winning Best Video for "
Do You Feel What I Feel?". They won the title of the UK's hardest-working band for two constitutive years, in 2011 and 2012. In 2010, JLS signed a record deal in the United States with
Jive Records, and released "Everybody in Love" as their debut US single, but it failed to chart. "
The Club Is Alive", the lead single from their second studio album, was released in the UK in July 2010, and earned the band their third number-one on the UK Singles Chart. Their single "
Love You More", the official single for
Children in Need in 2010, was the group's fourth UK number one. Their single "
She Makes Me Wanna" featuring
Dev was their fifth UK number one. As of 2012, their debut album and single has been named one of
The X Factors top ten biggest-selling debut singles and albums. JLS have sold more than 10 million records worldwide. As of 2013, they are the sixteenth richest reality TV stars in the UK, with an estimated fortune of £6 million per member, totalling £24 million. In December 2012, Humes signed with an acting agent, hoping that landing a part in a credible show would give him the platform to launch a career in acting after JLS came to an end. On 24 April 2013, it was announced that the band were to split after their fifth album and tour. They released their last book as a band, called
Forever and a Day, One Last Goodbye X, on 24 October 2013. JLS' last ever performance was on 22 December 2013 on the last night of their "Goodbye - The Greatest Hits Tour".
LuvBug On 23 July 2014, Humes announced through social networking sites that he had formed a new dance group featuring 'The White N3RD & JKAY called LuvBug. They were officially signed to
Polydor Records and their first single, "Resonance" featuring
Talay Riley, was released on 5 October 2014. It charted at number 13 on the week of 18 October 2014. The follow-up single, "Revive (Say Something)" was number 17 in the UK charts in February 2015. LuvBug first aired their new single "Best is Yet to Come" on 5 February 2016 and it was released in April 2016.
Radio In March 2013, Humes began hosting his own radio show,
#FridayNightCapital on
Capital on Friday evenings between 7pm and 10pm as the official start of "The Weekend Lives on Capital". On 5 January 2014, Humes replaced
Rich Clarke on
The Vodafone Big Top 40 with Kat Shoob, which airs on Sundays from 4pm to 7pm on Capital, Heart, and over 100 commercial music radio stations. He left the show in 2018. On 11 March 2016, Global announced that Humes would take control of the Capital Late Show, which runs Monday-Thursday 10pm-1am, to replace
Will Cozens. It was announced that Humes would co-present
One Love Manchester on Global Radio stations on 4 June 2017. Humes presented his final Capital Late Show on 15 December 2022, and left the network after 10 years, former
Capital Breakfast presenter
Sonny Jay began hosting the show on 3 January 2023. In April 2024, Humes joined
Bauer stations
Kiss and
Kisstory to present a new weekday mid morning show.
Television Humes made his television presenting debut on 23 August 2013, when he co-presented
ITV's
This Morning with his wife
Rochelle Humes. The couple later became regular stand-in presenters until 2015. Humes was a regular reporter for ITV's
Surprise Surprise programme, hosted by
Holly Willoughby. In September 2013, Humes was confirmed as
Reggie Yates' replacement for the third series of
BBC One's
The Voice UK, which began on 11 January 2014. The show moved to
ITV in 2017, without Humes as co-presenter. Since 2016, Humes has co-presented BBC's
Children in Need appeal with his wife,
Rochelle Humes. He played
Apollo Creed in an episode of
The Keith & Paddy Picture Show. On 20 November 2018, it was announced that Humes would co-host a music quiz show with wife
Rochelle Humes on BBC One.
The Hit List began in May 2019 and was recommissioned for a second series to air later that year. A third series was commissioned and was set to air in 2020. On 19 November 2020, Humes guest presented the
ITV daytime show
Loose Women, by making history to be the first male presenter in the show's 21-year history as well as an all male panel. In 2023, Humes participated in the
twenty-third series of
''I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!'', and was sixth to be eliminated. In 2026, Humes participated in the
seventh series of
The Masked Singer as "Can of Worms". He was unmasked in the seventh episode. ==Other ventures==