In 2003 Michelle McManus shot to fame as the winner of the second series of Pop Idol. Throughout the series she stood out for her powerhouse soul voice. But she also got huge amounts of press coverage for her weight.  

Today plus-size is celebrated, body positivity is embraced and everyone is encouraged to be who they are. In 2003 this was not the case. She was pilloried, debated, vilified and criticised every day in the media for the duration of the competition. But it never through her off course and she won with 58% of the public vote. 

You would imagine that when an audience has spoken and a winner declared that the powers that be would just accept it. But that isn’t what happened. When she was announced as the winner one of the judges stormed off the set on live television as she was about to reprise the song.

Michelle now lives back in Scotland where she works constantly as a radio and television host and of course as a singer. But there is also another side to Michelle. In 2012 she took her first one-woman show to the Edinburgh fringe and has been a sell-out success every year since. The shows are mix of comedy and cabaret and she plays every night of August to packed audiences at the Stand Comedy Club. (I saw her show last year and it was absolutely hilarious!)