They even had the X Factor then! Adorable childhood photos of this year's hopefuls... but can you guess who's who?

By Sarah Bull

Last updated at 7:46 AM on 18th October 2011


They went from nobodies to being watched by millions of viewers every weekend on The X Factor within the space of a few weeks.

But in never-before-seen childhood photos of this year's contestants, it's clear to see they always had star quality from the very earliest age.

The hopefuls including Janet Devlin and Kitty Brucknell are seen in adorable family snaps taken as they were growing up.

They even had the X Factor back then! Janet Devlin (left) and Kitty Brucknell had star quality at a very young age

Taking the wheel: Janet looked confident as she messed around in a car, unaware of the bright future ahead of her

And in a reversal of roles, Janet has dyed her blonde hair red since being on the show, while Kitty has gone from having ginger hair to being a blonde beauty.
However, Kitty said previously the reason she changed her hair colour was because she was bullied so badly at school.
She said in a recent interview: 'People were awful just because I had ginger hair. They would laugh at me and call me ginger minger.

All grown up: Formerly blonde Janet now has red hair, while Kitty dyed her red hair blonde after bullying jibes

'It was a nightmare. I was bullied all the time and it made my self-esteem hit rock bottom. I tried to stand up to the bullies but there didn't seem to be anything I could do.

'In the end I decided the only way to do it was to dye it as blonde as I could, which didn't exactly do wonders for my hair.'

Kitty has proved her bullies wrong, however, with two assured performances so far on the ITV show.

Through the years: It took a while for The Risk singer Charlie Healy to grow into his looks

Heartthrobs: But the boyband, put together by Tulisa Contostavlos, are now favourites to win

And the 26-year-old singer is apparently keen to keep pushing the boundaries, following her performance of Bjork's It's Oh So Quiet last Saturday night.
She is quoted in the Daily Star as having told mentor Louis Walsh she wants to follow in the footsteps of her idol Britney Spears by performing with snakes, a la the singer's Slave 4 U performance at the MTV VMA awards back in 2001.
Kitty apparently told Louis: 'I want to perform as an Amazonian queen in the wild, surrounded by deadly creatures and shock everyone.

Cheeky chappie: The Risk's Ashley Baptiste grins for the camera as he balances on his bicycle

Ready for school: The Risk's Andrew Merry and Derry Mensah look smart in their school uniforms

'No way can you go too far in a Kitty production. I will give performances on the X Factor stage that no other contestant could dream of giving.'
She is said to have added: 'Snakes, lions, tigers, bears, whatever you can find, I’m not scared. I want to do something viewers won’t be able to stop talking about.'
And bosses at the ITV show will no doubt be keen to accommodate Kitty's requests, given that the amount of viewers tuning in to the talent show has dropped by a staggering two million.

Bonny baby: Craig Colton's smile is instantly recognisable, even as a little baby

Still smiling: Craig is another favourite to go far in the competition, thanks to his unique voice

Despite gaining 9.6 million viewers during Saturday's live shows, X Factor was beaten in the ratings by the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing, which had 9.75million tuning in despite its barely revamped format.

Sunday night's results show rose to 11.4million viewers but compared to 13.4million for the same stage of the competition last year, it's clear that the new format is not quite yielding the much-hoped for results.

Why so sad? Frankie Cocozza was never a fan of smiling, judging by these pictures of the womaniser growing up

The hair's getting longer! Frankie as a nurse/Joker for Halloween and on the X Factor last weekend

Meanwhile, the frayed tempers between the judges are also likely to increase viewing figures, following Kelly and Louis' spat this weekend.

Louis was apparently left fuming after Kelly made fun of him for using the word 'swagger' in relation to his comments about Frankie Cocozza's performance.

And Louis was said to be so upset by Kelly's criticism that he has since refused to talk to the Destiny's Child singer.

Adorable: Rhythmix singer Leigh-Anne Pinnock beams for the camera in this cute snap

Star potential: Rhythmix singers Jesy Nelson and Jade Thirlwall were clearly stars in the making

As they are now: Have Jade, Jesy, Perrie and Leigh-Anne broken the X Factor girl band curse?

A source told the Daily Mirror: 'The way Kelly talked down to him was unacceptable as far as he is concerned. There is no love lost behind the scenes and Louis and Kelly are not speaking off screen and haven’t since Saturday night.
'Louis is just putting all his time into his acts and wants to make sure Kitty, Sami and Johnny have incredible performances.
'He’s already working on their next songs and spent time with them on Sunday night as Kelly and Gary were relaxing with their singers in their dressing rooms.'

Here's Johnny! Johnny Robinson, who is proving a huge hit on the show, hasn't changed too much

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2050312/X-Factor-2011-Kitty-Brucknell-Janet-Devlin-childhood-photos.html#ixzz1b9HAuSCf