The man they call “The Midas Touch ” because of the luck he brings to people is backing Leona Lewis to win the X-Factor.

34-year-old Dean Maynard is not nicknamed “Midas Touch” for nothing. Dean, who has appeared on Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway and Chris Moyles’ Radio One show, claims that he helped his hometown club Reading storm to the Championship title and win promotion to the Barclays Premiership in 2005/06.

Dean has currently been involved with West Ham and after 8 games without a win they are now 6 points from 6 since he backed them.

He also offered his support to the Wigan Warriors rugby league team in their bid to escape relegation, after which they won nine out of ten games and survived after being rock bottom. But his biggest success story came when his record brought him to the attention of the Chicago White Sox baseball team, who went on to win the World Series in 2005 for the first time in 88 years.