Beardsmith follow in the footsteps of legendary acts the Jackson Five, the Nolan Sisters and the Osmonds as they are crowned the No.1 Family by GMTV viewers. The band, made up of father Neil (63), daughter Alice (14) and sons Gary (24), Ged (20), Gill (12) and Graham (25), have been declared victors after a three month search to find Britain’s biggest family super group.

Having emerged as favourites following a head to head with four rival family acts, Beardsmith were awarded a contract with supreme record label Universal, as well as an exciting Christmas album deal.

The band first auditioned in Cardiff during a nationwide talent trawl, launched by GMTV back in July.

After progressing through to the semi-finals, they soon faced the fear-inducing trio of judges; music manager Jonathan Shalit, who will now represent the group and has declared them as “A true great British familiy”, A & R manager Jordan Jay, and born and bread all singing, all dancing family performer, Bernie Nolan, herself about to reunite with one of Britain’s best loved family collectives, the Nolans.

After their win was announced live on air, an ecstatic Beardsmith declared their victory “brilliant!”

The search for Britain’s next family supergroup has reached its closing stages and now it’s down to the public to decide upon the ultimate winner. Out of the five finalists, only one will win a recording contract with Universal to release an album just in time for the festive season.

Beating off stiff competition from over 900 other family acts, the final five family bands won the votes of judges Bernie and Coleen Nolan, music manager Jonathan Shalit and Universal’s Jordan Jay.. But now it’s up to the public to decide who will make their Christmas playlists:

Belles Girls

Made up of sisters Robyn, Jessica and Harriet Hills and their cousin Katie Woolnoth, Hertfordshire band Belles Girls are over the moon to be living their dream. Infectious giggles and energetic dance routines are the order of the day!

The family group, who came together singing Ave Maria at their Great Grandmother Bella’s funeral, named themselves after their late Great Grandma as she always referred to them as ‘my girls’. They also performed at their cousin’s wedding and are all involved in amateur theatre productions, locally and at school.

Baby Chic

Adorable Baby Chic are sisters Ella and Mia Meads from Berkshire. At just 8 years old Mia was the youngest cast member of Oliver! in the West End and they are bound to capture the nation’s hearts with their incredible vocals.

Their Mum Katy said, ‘The girls are so excited! They sing continuously and aspire to be like Beyonce or Alexander Burke. As their Mum, I am so proud of them and that they are living their dream.’

Beardsmith

Beardsmith, from Nantwich, are father Neil and his four sons and daughter. Originally a 4 piece formed 10 years ago, the group has never stopped growing! The family are home schooled and travel around the country playing gigs, including holiday parks and outdoor events.

Neil Beard said: ‘We’re all very excited to be in the final 15! We’ve performed around the country in some big venues – but never to a huge national television audience before. With lots of people back home wishing us well, we can’t wait until the next stage of the competition. The No 1 Family has been a great way of opening doors which otherwise might have taken years to achieve.’

Red Voix

This is the first time that Dad Ian and daughters Rebecca and Hannah Davies from South Wirral have sung together and they’re absolutely ‘astounded’ to get this far! With Hannah on violin, Dad on the guitar and Rebecca on vocals they are a great combination!

Dad Ian Davies said, ‘We are all really surprised to make it to the final 15. The girls are really excited and really comfortable with singing in front of an audience – however I’m really nervous! But we have really enjoyed every moment of the ride so far’.

D’Votion

D’Votion are from the Midlands and are made up of brothers and sisters Paul, John, Julia and Charles from Birmingham. Their Dad is a pastor and they all sing gospel in the local church. Paul has written over 200 songs – by day they work for the family engineering business. With their warm harmonies and loveable personas they’re sure to bring the soul to any song they take on.

Paul said: ‘We are all absolutely over the moon! This is just such an amazing opportunity and we are all totally focused and determined to give the best performance possible next week. It’s really bought the family together and we want to make 2009 our year!’

Next week the family bands will go head to head and perform live on GMTV every morning before the public get voting on Friday 9th October. The winning family band will also be announced on Friday morning.

Catch all the five finalists on GMTV w/c 5th October and vote for them on Friday 9th October.

Oh please God no! Not more Sampsons!

Just as George Sampson’s career goes into freefall, his sisters have decided to make a bid for stardom by entering GMTV’s No 1 family contest.

The winners of the competition will land a contract with Universal records.

An insider told The Sun: “George’s sisters have been following his career and are desperate to hit the big time themselves.”

I am hoping that the Great British public will realise the error of their ways after hurling one Sampson into the limelight, please don’t inflict more of them on us now! The Jackson family they are not.

Laura White performed her new track ‘You Should Have Known’ on GMTV this week and it was nice to see her back.

Laura was one of the most talented singers on last year’s X Factor and definitely the most original, it was a shame that she only made it to week five.

What do you think of the song? Does it live up to your expectations? Leave your comments below.

GMTV star, Jenni Falconer, has revealed that she’s engaged to her long term love James Midgeley following what Jenni described as, “an incredibly romantic proposal” in New York.

Jenni, who’s 33, told the Press Association, “It was incredibly romantic and was a gorgeous, warm evening – the lights of Manhattan shone in the distance and we had a band playing live music on a boat.

“I’d been laughing so much all evening, I was genuinely surprised by James’s proposal.

“I did hope I’d be romanced, but never expected a gesture like this.

“In saying that, I was delighted to be asked – and of course my answer was a definite yes.”

As yet, the couple haven’t revealed a date for their nuptials, but I’m sure OK! magazine are hot on their heels to secure an exclusive!

Sacked Strictly Come Dancing judge Arlene Phillips has reportedly been offered a judging role on a new GMTV segment.

The Daily Mail reports that Phillips will be an expert judge on new talent search The No.1 Family, which launches in the autumn and is fronted by Jeff Brazier.

A GMTV source confirmed: “There are talks going on with Arlene about doing something with us in the autumn. Everyone here is very keen but it is early days.”

The Daily Mirror today reckons that GMTV presenter, Kate Garraway, has said she’s considering leaving the show in the wake of salary cuts across ITV.

Some sources suggest that Kate’s pay – which is currently around £280,00 per year – could be slashed by £70,000.

It’s also reported that co-host Andrew Castle has had his pay cut by 20% with Ben Shephard, Penny Smith and Lorraine Kelly enduring similar salary cuts.

The presenters have also apparently been told that their paid holiday leave will be cut by up to 50%.

A source said to be close to Kate told the paper, “The deal was a shocker” and added, “Kate’s agent is prepared to pull her from GMTV if they continue along these lines as the station is still hugely profitable and they’re just using the credit crunch as an excuse…

“GMTV is one of the only bits of ITV that still pulls in cash.”

A representative of GMTV refused to discuss the rumours about Kate threatening to walk and said, “We do not discuss presenters’ contracts.”

And it’s not only GMTV staff who are facing pay cuts and stars such as Jonathan Ross, Simon Cowell and TV duo Ant and Dec are also subject to reductions in their salaries.

It’s been revealed today that The Apprentice series five runner-up Kate Walsh has been offered a role on GMTV presenting a feature about “what women should wear in the office”.

The Sun reports that her presenting slot will most likely be during Lorraine Kelly’s show. A source close to Walsh told the paper, “Kate is desperate to get a career in telly…

“She did a screen test for GMTV and they liked her.

“The plan is for her to do some stuff with Lorraine and then get something regular.”

Kate was pipped to the post on The Apprentice by Yasmina Siadatan but she didn’t leave the show entirely empty handed; she met her current love and fellow contestant Philip Taylor during filming.