All the judges admitted they did not remember Will from the initial Pop Idol rounds as they whittled the wannabes down to the final 50.

He was made to wait in the "maybe" room as the judges decided whether to allow him through to the next round.

Crooner

He puts his unmemorable early performances down to the fact that he was "rubbish" and only got into the swing of the contest in the later stages.

As 50 were stripped down to 10, Will's talent began to shine through as he put his own spin on tunes.

A favourite week for him was when a live big band were brought in to accompany them.

Will came across as a natural crooner and admitted he was more comfortable with older songs than other music he has had to perform such as Abba.

His trademark big smile was as wide as ever as he took the performance in his stride.

Head-to-head

From the outset it looked as if 17-year-old Gareth would be crowned runaway winner.

But there was an added air of excitement as Will crept up in the stakes.

Durig his campaign for votes in the final week, Will promised to "stay well clear of typical celebrity hangouts".

He also said he would "not throw celebrity strops at stalker journalists and the paparazzi (I reserve the right to break this pledge)".

At one point he was tipped by the bookies to go on to win but as the two went head to head, Gareth was the favourite.

The two candidates were completely different in style, looks and sound.

Will does not share Gareth's boyish good looks and trademark spiky hairdo but has a big voice, big smile and bigger personality, which his rival struggled to show because of his speech problems.

Now Will is the one who goes forward to a recording contract and a likely UK number one with the Pop Idol double A-side, Evergreen/Anything is Possible.