Sam Preston

A former public schoolboy and self-described nerd, inspired by the works of Morrissey and Richard Dawkins, who rose to fame thanks to a reality TV celebrity relationship, the Ordinary Boys' frontman Sam Preston was one of the more contradictory figures on the British indie pop scene of the noughties. Born Samuel Preston in Worthing, West Sussex in 1982 to an American mother and an English father, who was a direct descendant of former Prime Minister Earl Grey, he began his musical career after forming a mod revival band with school friends guitarist William J. Brown, bassist James Gregory, and drummer Simon Goldring, who under the guise of the Ordinary Boys released three Top 20 studio albums before disbanding in 2008. Two years previously, Preston had become a household name thanks to his appearance on the third series of Celebrity Big Brother, where he struck up a relationship with future wife Chantelle Houghton. The pair became a permanent tabloid fixture, during which Preston presented a show on voodoo magic and provided a golden TV moment when he stormed off the music panel show Never Mind the Buzzcocks after host Simon Amstell poked fun at Chantelle's autobiography. After the couple split, he moved to America to recuperate, before returning two years later with an Adam Ant-style electro-pop reinvention and debut single, the Siouxie and the Banshees-sampling "Dressed to Kill." But following its disappointing chart position, its parent album, Whatever Forever, was shelved and he was dropped from the B-Unique label.
© Jon O'Brien /TiVo