X Factor legend pictured for first time in ages almost 20 years after infamous audition
Her audition is still a 10.
It’s been almost two decades since the legendary Rachel Lester first appeared on our screens when she auditioned for The X Factor.
While her vocal abilities may not have won over judges Simon Cowell, Louis Walsh, Dannii Minogue, and Sharon Osbourne, she did win the hearts of the nation.
Sharon even recreated the audition with a fan at one of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour shows in London last year — talk about a legacy.
Memorably, the then-25-year-old Rachel declared she was ‘lazy at the moment’ and did nothing for work but her singing was a 10.
She also confidently told the judges she was ‘a natural talent’, adding: ‘At the end of the day, I deserve it. I’m just too goddamn good.’
18 years later and Rachel was spotted in a chippy, posing for a picture with a fan and still sporting her familiar dark smokey eye shadow.
She was still sporting her dark eyeshadow (Picture: The Archbishop of Banterbury/Instagram)‘Rachel Lester spotted in the year 2025,’ wrote @camjmes0 on X, posting the snap of the now 48-year-old singer with fans commenting how well she looked.
Others were repeating some of her iconic lines from her 2007 audition including her response to Sharon asking if she ever sings professionally.
‘Of course, I’ve been singing all my life, all around the towns and everything,’ Rachel had replied.
Rachel’s confidence knew no bounds as she said she could sing anything the judges wanted her to with no issues.
Her rendition of Sugar Walls by Sheena Easton didn’t quite live up to the Madonna level performance she had promised the judges.
When Simon and co didn’t feel the same, Rachel had some sharp retorts and angrily accused them of ‘licking each other’s arses to get where you want to f***ing be.’
Simon didn’t hold back in his evaluation, telling Rachel she was’vile’ and her performance ‘the worst’ he had seen on the show.
‘Everything I wouldn’t want, lazy, deluded, very little talent’, he added as Dannii described her actions as ‘foul’.
Louis called her ‘an awful woman’ while Sharon declared she was ‘so full of hatred and she even scared me.’
‘What an ugly, ugly person. In four years we’ve never had anyone that out there and abusive come into the room,’ she added.
She’s become a bit of a meme (Picture: X Factor)Rachel’s wide-eyed star and straight talking demeanour have firmly cemented her audition as one of the all time greats.
The clip pops up all the time on social media, with fans quoting her as well as sharing her shocked face as a meme.
On Instagram, there’s even an entire account dedicated to editing her face onto famous pictures from Lady Gaga to the Mona Lisa.
After the audition, Rachel disappeared from the public eye and is very rarely seen all around the towns.
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