Hackney band Kingsland wow judges on the X Factor

Three of them may have lost their jobs due to rehearsals, but boyband Kingsland’s efforts paid off as they stormed through to the next round of the X Factor this weekend.

The five boys – named after the famous Hackney street off which they live – impressed the judges and a packed audience at Wembley Arena with their take on the Bruno Mars hit Treasure in their second audition for the ITV talent show which was aired on Sunday. Viewers of the earlier show on Saturday night had seen them sail through to the arena round after getting a resounding thumbs up in their first audition from celebrity judges Gary Barlow, Sharon Osbourne, Louis Walsh and Nicole Scherzinger with their rendition of Swedish Maffia’s Don’t You Worry Child.

Walsh told them: “This could be the start of the rest of your lives, if you work hard”.

The band – made up of Josh, Connor, Matt, Jay, and Thompson – are currently sharing a two bedroom flat in Haggerston, but have also lived in Shoreditch and Homerton since forming just over a year ago.

Connor and Josh were at college together when they came up with the idea of starting a band, and found the other three members through YouTube and social media sites.

The group, whose ages range from 19 to 24, have been making ends meet with bar work but Thompson told the judges at their arena audition that they’d been rehearsing to the point that three of them had lost their jobs.

Josh added: “Myself and Matt are now holding the fort at home and paying everyone’s rent.”

After their second audition, judge and Take That star Barlow said: “You’re a ready made hit band.”

Kingsland will now go through to the bootcamp stage of the talent competition and – if successful – could appear in the live shows later this year.