The UK has had a rollercoaster ride when it comes to Eurovision. We’ve soared with Bucks Fizz’s skirt-ripping glory and Lulu’s swinging sixties triumph – but in more recent years, it's been more nul points than national pride. That is, until Sam Ryder defied the odds and bagged second place in 2022, restoring a glimmer of hope for the UK's pop prospects on the global stage. But behind the glitter and key changes lies a little-known fact: some of Britain’s most famous faces have thrown their hat into the Eurovision ring... and failed miserably.
While some stars crashed out in the public vote, others never made it past the BBC's brutal selection process. Names like Rita Ora, Katie Price and Michelle Gayle might surprise fans – all once desperate to represent the nation. But they didn’t make the cut. And one major star walked away altogether, fearing it would ruin their career. Let’s take a look at Britain’s biggest Eurovision flops – the famous names who gave it a go, only to go nowhere.
Rita Ora
She’s now a global chart-topper and red carpet regular – but back in 2009, Rita Ora was a fresh-faced 18-year-old dreaming of Eurovision glory.
The future pop queen auditioned for Eurovision: Your Country Needs You on BBC One with a cover of Oleta Adams’ Get Here, wowing judges including Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber.
Rita made it through the early rounds and was on track to represent the UK. But just weeks later, she quit – spooked by fears the Eurovision label might tank her music career before it even began.
“I was very excited,” she told Idris Elba on his 2022 podcast. “But I felt that it was not my time and that this was not my path in the music industry.”
Her manager Sarah Stennett reportedly warned that Eurovision could damage her chances of becoming a serious solo artist. It was Jade Ewen who stepped in and sang It’s My Time, landing the UK in fifth place – its best result in years.
Rita finally made it to the Eurovision stage in 2023 – not as a contestant, but as a superstar guest, performing a medley of hits during the Liverpool semi-final. “A full circle moment,” she called it.
Katie Price
Katie Price made headlines for her attempt to perform at the contest after she sensationally claimed she was "stitched up" as she auditioned to be the UK's next Eurovision star in 2005.
The former model set out on establishing a pop career shortly after appearing on ITV's I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here.
She gained 29 per cent of the vote - but that was one per cent less than the winner, Javine Hylton. Hylton went on to perform Touch My Fire, finishing in 22nd place.
Dressed in a hot-pink rubber catsuit while seven months pregnant, Price competed in Eurovision: Making Your Mind Up, a live TV showdown in which the British public voted for the performer they wanted to send to compete in the main contest in Kyiv.
She went up against a surreal trio of pop sort-ofs: the brother of Steps member Lisa Scott-Lee; Javine Hylton, who’d three years earlier just missed out on a slot in Girls Aloud; and the comeback-hungry Ooh Aah… Just a Little Bit singer Gina G.
“I was burning with anger and humiliation,” Price said at the time on Loose Women. “I felt as if I was in a worse position than before regarding my music. I felt that my credibility had been damaged.”
Price’s Sony deal didn’t materialise in the aftermath, though she has released one-off singles since. In 2022, she called Eurovision “the only thing I’ve done in my career that I’ve regretted and hated”.
Anthony Costa
Boyband favourite Anthony Costa might have helped Blue secure a solid 11th place at Eurovision 2011 – but five years earlier, he tried, and failed, to fly solo.
Back in 2006, the fresh-faced pop star entered the UK’s Eurovision selection show with a ballad called It’s A Beautiful Thing, hoping to charm his way to the main event.
But the public had other ideas, voting instead for Daz Sampson’s bizarre school-themed rap Teenage Life – which later limped to 19th place in Athens with just 25 points.
Costa’s solo bid was quietly brushed under the carpet, but he got a second shot with his Blue bandmates in 2011.
Their track I Can delivered a much-needed result for the UK, cracking the top 15 and winning fans across Europe.
Kym Marsh
Before she was pulling pints on Coronation Street, Kym Marsh was belting ballads – and even tried her luck at representing the UK in Eurovision.
In 2006, the Hear’Say singer turned soap star entered the national selection with her track Whisper To Me, but despite her fame, she failed to win over the public vote.
It wasn’t her first time in the spotlight. Kym rose to fame in 2001 as part of Popstars-formed group Hear’Say, whose debut single Pure and Simple rocketed to number one.
But just as quickly as they shot to stardom, the band imploded – with Kym walking away to launch a solo career.
By 2006, she was hoping to revive her music profile via Eurovision. But she only placed fourth out of six acts in the BBC’s Making Your Mind Up, losing to Daz Sampson’s infamous school-themed anthem Teenage Life.
“I thought it would be a bit of fun and it would have been a lovely thing to represent my country,” Marsh later said. But even she admitted people had warned her Eurovision was “a bit cheesy".
Michelle Gayle
She was a 90s R&B queen with seven Top 40 hits and a role on EastEnders under her belt – but even Michelle Gayle couldn’t charm her way into Eurovision.
In 2008, the singer and actress threw her hat into the ring with Woo (U Make Me), hoping to represent the UK at the grand final.
It was all part of the BBC’s Eurovision: Your Decision, but the decision didn’t go her way. Instead, the spot went to X Factor runner-up Andy Abraham – who then went on to bomb spectacularly in the final, finishing joint last with just 14 points.
Gayle, who played Hattie Tavernier in EastEnders and later starred in the West End as Belle in Beauty and the Beast, had hoped Eurovision would reboot her music career. But losing out to Abraham – and watching him crash out – only rubbed salt in the wound.
Since then, Gayle has stayed in the spotlight through stage work and stints on Loose Women.
Liz McClarnon
As the longest-serving member of Atomic Kitten, you’d think Liz McClarnon was a surefire pick to represent the UK at Eurovision. But in 2007, the pop princess found out the hard way that past chart success doesn’t guarantee future votes.
With three UK number ones and two chart-topping albums under her belt, McClarnon entered the BBC’s Eurovision selection show with the upbeat track (Don’t It Make You) Happy.
But while fans may have expected her to breeze through, the public weren’t buying it – and she lost out on the chance to fly the Union Jack on the world stage.
Instead, it was Scooch who scooped the prize with their campy airline anthem Flying The Flag (For You) – only to crash and burn in the grand final, finishing 22nd with a measly 19 points.
Samantha Fox
Long before Eurovision became a playground for glitter and gimmicks, 80s icon Samantha Fox gave it a go – but even global fame wasn’t enough to get her through.
In 1995, the former Page Three girl turned pop star auditioned for Eurovision with all-female group Sox. Despite already having four studio albums, international hits like Touch Me (I Want Your Body), and even a BRIT nomination under her belt, Fox was snubbed by voters.
The slot instead went to Love City Groove, whose self-titled rap anthem sailed through and eventually finished 10th in the final – leaving Sox, and Sam, behind in the dust.
Fox, who’d once ruled both the charts and the tabloids in the 80s, never made it back to the Eurovision stage again.
While her fame continued in other ways, her short-lived bid with Sox remains a little-known detour in her headline-making career.
