Reggie N Bollie get ready for festival fun

They will be the headline act at the AfroCaribFest that will be held at The Place, in Oakengates, on July 28 after the organisers attracted lottery funding to set up the community entertainment and enterprise day.

The popular New Girl singers narrowly lost out in the finals of the ITV talent show in 2015 to the eventual winner Louisa Johnson, but were immediately snapped up by judge Simon Cowell's record label Syco.

Now they are poised to bring the house down with a set featuring pop, afrobeat and rap at the new festival that is being organised by Telford's Centric Youth Voluntary Club to celebrate the borough's diversity.

Reggie said: "We are really excited about AfroCaribFest and we can't wait to come to Telford and meet our fans. We will also be at the after party where we will hang out with a few people in a relaxed atmosphere.

"We have done a lot of travelling in the past year and there is a lot going on. We are working hard on our new album at the moment and it will definitely be ready before the end of the year. It is 90 per cent done and just needs a few tweaks here and there."

Since being dropped by Syco the duo have set up their own label called FROD Music which they hope to will be a springboard to bigger and better things in the entertainment business.

Bollie, 30, added: "Appearing on X Factor we saw as a great blessing to us and the whole experience was something that we will never forget for the rest of our lives. We took a leap of faith that opened so many doors for us."

They originally auditioned for the TV show under the name Menn on Poinnt but changed it to simply Reggie N Bollie.

Former judge and Girls Aloud star Cheryl tipped them for a bright future after they performed with R'n'B star Craig David and Fuse ODG on the X Factor 2015 show finale.

Reggie added: "After being in the music industry for a while now we can say that it is a very challenging one. It's a job that has made us realise that nothing is going to be given to you on a plate and if you want success you have to work very hard for it. You learn to expect less from people and just to go for it.

"You also need to have the right people working on your behalf to help with marketing."

They say they are still in touch with most of the 2015 X Factor acts and with Cheryl and her partner One Direction's Liam Payne who they also met on the show, but they haven't yet met the couple's new baby son Bear.

"Once in a while we check on Cheryl or she will check on us. We're very happy for them. They're really nice people and sometimes it's best to give people a bit of space when they've had a new baby, but we hope to see them at some point."

Early bird tickets have gone on sale for the event that will also see Britain’s Got Talent semi-finalists Mythical PSM, Dez Mensa, afrobeat act Kwamz and Flava, and R&B tribute band Soul Tone perform on stageon July 28.

The event will start at 7.30pm. Tickets for 16 to 18-year-olds are £25 each and £35 for adults. But there are £10 discounts for bookings before June 28.

Booking details are available from the box office on 01952 382382, or the websites www.theplacetelford.com, www.afrocaribfest.co.uk