THEY came off second best in the ultimate girls versus boys battle in 2002.
Popstars: The Rivals boyband One True Voice – Anton Gordon, Matt Johnson, Keith Semple, Daniel Pearce and Jamie Shaw – went head to head with Girls Aloud that year for the coveted Christmas number one.
Their single Sacred Trust was beaten into number two by the girl group’s debut smash Sound of the Underground, which would propel its members Cheryl, Kimberley Walsh, Nadine Coyle, Nicola Roberts and Sarah Harding into pop music’s elite.
The loss set the tone for the lads’ ill-fated attempt at pop stardom as the group called it a day a year later without having released an album.
We take a look at what happened to the boys in the years since they lost their Voice.
Daniel Pearce
The 43-year-old has worked with some of the biggest names in dance music in the years since he quit the group.
Providing both backing and lead vocals to some massive tunes, Daniel has collaborated with Basement Jaxx, Chris Malinchak and The Chemical Brothers to name but a few.
Perhaps most famously, he provided backing vocals to Dizzee Rascal’s number one smash Dirtee Disco and performed live with the Brit rapper on Top of the Pops, Jools Holland and at Glastonbury festival.
His first gig post OTV was as the lead in Jailhouse Rock in the West End. He then turned to reality TV once again to try and kickstart his pop career.
This time round it was Simon Cowell’s X Factor in 2009, and while he successfully made it to judges’ houses, he failed to make it to the live shows.
But once again, he remained undeterred and went on to achieve chart success in the years that followed playing a big part in three number one singles.
More recently he formed the funk band Shuffler with former members of Jamiroquai .
Keith Semple
The Northern Irishman has spent the past two decades grafting and honing his songwriting craft in a number of bands.
He relocated to Chicago in the mid noughties and joined rockers 7th Heaven as the group’s frontman. In 2010 he pursued a shot at solo stardom by secretly auditioning for American Idol.
Simon Cowell didn’t like his rendition of Bryan Adams’ Heaven enough to put him through but the other three judges felt differently.
However, his dreams were cut short soon after when an immigration issue meant he had to withdraw from the competition.
Fast forward five years and Keith took a punt on the US version of The Voice.
He found a place on Maroon 5 singer Adam Levine’s team and made it to the live shows after winning through the battle rounds. But there was no fairytale ending with his journey ending in the very first live show.
He now fronts his band Semple.
Anton Gordon
Like Daniel and Keith, Anton attempted a pop comeback through a Simon Cowell talent show.
His effort in 2006 was less successful than his bandmates’, with him failing to make it through the preliminary rounds to perform in front of the judges.
Anton’s love of music remains as strong as ever though, and he regular shares soulful clips of his singing on social media.
The talented singer-songwriter, who now goes by Anton Romero, often pleases fans by taking on their song requests.
Matt Johnson
When OTV came to an end in 2003, Matt put put to paper on a solo record deal with Jive Records. It was a short-lived partnership though that ended in a disagreement over musical direction.
Matt was the first of his bandmates to jump back into reality TV on the X Factor in 2004 but only made it as far as boot camp.
Dad-of-two Matt founded his own label, Tristar Records, which puts out his own music as well as a talented array of other artists.
Mainstream success might have eluded him since OTV, but he still boasts an impressive fanbase with more than a million monthly streams on Spotify.
Jamie Shaw
Jamie threw himself into a solo career after OTV split, with his most notable achievement coming in 2006 when he supported US megastars the Backstreet Boys on tour in the UK.
The father-of-one swapped music for TV in 2014 when he became an executive publicity assistant for the BBC’s Doctor Who.
He married his wife Danieella in Santorini two years ago and his Instagram page is full of sweet snaps of his young family.
