Carolynne Poole

Carolynne Willey (née Good; born 5 August 1980) is a British singer-songwriter and actress from Leeds, England. She first gained recognition as a finalist on the second series of the BBC talent show Fame Academy in 2003, where she finished third. In 2011, she competed on The X Factor and advanced to the judges' houses stage. She returned the following year and reached the live shows, but was eliminated after the first week.

Early and personal life Carolynne Good was born in Leeds, Yorkshire. She attended Intake High School (now Leeds West Academy).

She was previously married to footballer David Poole. In August 2015, Good announced that she was in a relationship with England cricketer David Willey, whom she married in November 2016. The couple have two children together.

She is a fan of rugby league team Leeds Rhinos.

Singing career 1998–2001: Early career Poole's early musical influences included The Eagles, U2, The Carpenters, and Mary Chapin Carpenter. In 1998, having moved from Leeds to London to pursue a career as a singer-songwriter, she was one of the final 15 in auditions for S Club 7, The following year, Poole joined and fronted a five-member country music band, with which she toured the UK. In 2001, she signed her first publishing contract with BMG Music Publishing. In 2000, she continued to develop her songwriting talents in the UK and Europe. She split most of her time between London and Stockholm, writing for other recording artists, writing and recording with different songwriters and producers.

2003–05: Fame Academy, songwriting and touring In 2003, Poole appeared in the second series of the BBC's singing competition Fame Academy, in which she reached the final. A song she co-wrote with fellow contestants Alex Parks and James Fox, titled "Not Your Average Kind of Girl", was included on Parks' 2003 debut album Introduction. The album reached number 5 on the UK Albums Chart and has since been classified 2x Platinum in the UK, and gold in six other countries including Italy, Greece, Germany, and Australia.

Poole spent 2004 continuing to writing songs, and in the next year toured the UK with Tony Christie.

2011–12: The X Factor Poole performing at the 2012 Manchester Christmas lights switch-on celebration. In 2011, Poole auditioned for the eighth series of The X Factor. She reached the "judges' houses" stage, where Louis Walsh was her mentor in the "over 25s" category, but failed to progress through to the live shows, with Walsh instead choosing Johnny Robinson, Kitty Brucknell, Jonjo Kerr and Goldie Cheung (who later dropped out and was replaced by Sami Brookes).

Poole auditioned again for the ninth series, and made it to the live shows with Gary Barlow as her mentor. In the first week of the live shows, Poole sang Nicki Minaj's "Starships". Despite positive comments, however,

2014–present: Debut album Following The X Factor, Poole relocated to the United States for five months. In early 2015, Poole received radio airplay on BBC Radio 2 Country with a song titled "Cupid Must've Been High". Later Poole released her debut single, "I Love You but Shut Up", which features guitar-playing by Albert Lee. The single was play listed on BBC Radio 2, which led to a Terry Wogan session. She returned to play two slots at C2C in March 2016.

Carolynne released her debut 5 song albums "Coming Back To Me" on 7 April 2017, and was subsequently nominated for two British Country Music Association Awards.

Acting career Since 2005, Poole has appeared on stage in pantomime and has also acted in short films. In August 2008, she began shooting her first feature film, playing Frankie in The Last Days of Edgar Harding, which was released in 2011. In 2010, she played the role of Sue in Bill Kenwright's UK tour of Dreamboats and Petticoats, and had a minor role in the BBC film Eric and Ernie. In May 2012, Poole appeared in Emmerdale as the main character's girlfriend. She later played Justin Gallagher's new fiancée, Talia Brice.