X Factor winner 2011: Little Mix make history as first groupto win

By Sarah Bull

Updated: 08:39 GMT, 12 December 2011

Little Mix last night made X Factor history as they became the first group ever to win the ITV talentshow.

Jesy Nelson, Perrie Edwards, Leigh-Anne Pinnock and Jade Thirlwall beat fellow finalist MarcusCollins at the final hurdle to take home the crown after a series of stunning performances on thefinal show.

Screaming with delight as they were told they had won the show, the girls burst into tears beforespeaking to host Dermot O'Leary.

They've done it! Little Mix beat Marcus Collins to take home the X Factor crown

Hitting the jackpot: Little Mix will be even more stunned when they realise they're set to make £8million after winning the X Factor

Stunned: The girls, and their mentor Tulisa Contostavlos, struggled to contain their emotions as theresult was announced

The quartet struggled to control their emotions as they were crowned the winners, with Leigh-Annetelling Dermot: 'Oh my gosh, wow!'

Jesy added: 'This is never going to sink in. We can never thank the public enough for voting for us.'

Tulisa, who burst into tears when the news was announced, added later: 'I think I wanted them towin more than they did.'

Nerves: The girls and their fellow finalist Marcus Collins awaited the news of the result

Overcome: Jade and Tulisa started screaming when the results were announced

Congratulations: The girls hugged runner-up Marcus as his mentor Gary applauded them

Simon Cowell, who has been absent from this year's panel, was also quick to congratulate the girls,

writing on his Twitter page: 'Congratulations to @LIttleMixOffic . And Paula as you can see, groupscan win this show! I was really hoping a group would win this year. @OfficialTulisa has done a greatjob. These girls could be stars.'

Little Mix have now released their cover of Damien Rice's Cannonball as their winner's single, andare hoping to clinch the coveted Christmas number one spot with the track.

Winner's single: Little Mix's Cannonball is out now

Irish singer Rice reached number 32 on the UK Singles Chart back in 2003 with Cannonball, thesecond single from his debut album O. Rice then re-released the track in 2004, hitting number 19 inthe UK and 21 in Ireland.

However, many fans took to Twitter before the results were announced to speculate that thedecision had already been made, after the Marks and Spencer Christmas advert featured Little Mixat the end instead of Amelia Lily, who had featured at the end before.

One fan tweeted: 'Well its obvious little mix were gonna win , they were the ones at the end of themarks and spencer advert.'

While another added: 'How can Marks and Spencer's know that little mix have won before we do?'

The show began with the two finalists trying to overcome their nerves about who would be namedthe winner, with Marcus saying: 'A couple more performances now and one of us is going to becrowned the winner. It's amazing.'

Little Mix added: 'We really want to do well, we really want to win!'

The last time a girl group had such success on a reality show was when Girls Aloud were created onPopstars: The Rivals back in 2002.

Teary:Little Mix pose up with Tulisa after they were announced as the winners

Fix factor? Fans took to Twitter to speculate that the decision had been made before the resultswere announced after the Marks and Spencer advert featured Little Mix on the end

Host Dermot O'Leary looked dapper in his black tuxedo as he made his way to the stage to introducethe evening's show, although he decided to leave the dance moves after last night's opening medley.

Dermot then introduced the X Factor judges, Kelly Rowland, Louis Walsh, Tulisa Contostavlos andGary Barlow.

Making a grand entrance on an elevated platform, Gary and Louis had to help Tulsa off the platformas her fitted fishtail dress made it incredibly difficult for her to walk.

Judgement day: The judges make their way to the stage for the final time

Finalists: Little Mix and Marcus Collins fought it out for the X Factor crown

Kelly, meanwhile, looked stunning in a pretty gold dress with a short from and long train back.

Marcus and Little Mix then kicked off the finalists' performance of Rihanna and Calvin Harris' WeFound Love, before they were joined on stage by some other familiar faces.

They then mashed-up We Found Love with Sweat, Shuffling, Jennifer Lopez' On The Floor as TheRisk, Nu Vibe, Two Shoes, Misha B, Janet Devlin, Sophie Habibis and Goldie Cheung strutted theirstuff.

Blondes have more fun: Amelia Lily and Kitty Brucknell seemed to be enjoying the performance

Familiar faces: Craig Colton, 2 Shoes and Sophie Habibis returned for another performance

Johnny Robinson and Sami Brookes then kicked off Moves Like Jagger, joined by Craig Colton,before Kitty Brucknell stood o the judges table as she belted out Lady Gaga's tshirt printing agourahills The Edge Of Glory, joined by Amelia Lily, who narrowly missed out on a place in the final show.

Noticeably absent, however, was Frankie Cocozza, who dropped out of the show followingallegations of drug taking.

The solo performances were kicked off by Marcus, who decided to sing his favourite track of theseries, Higher and Higher.

Powerful in pink: Marcus donned his favourite pink shirt and jacket to once again perform Higherand Higher

So proud: Marcus' mentor Gary said he couldn't be more proud of the Liverpudlian

Explaining his decision, Marcus said: 'Performing higher and higher was a real moment for me onthe show, it was one of my favourite performances on the whole series.

'It's such an important song to me, it gives me such a boost every time I hear it.'

Marcus added: 'I always knew I wanted to be a singer, even when I was younger. It would mean somuch to me if I could win The X Factor - I don't want my dreams dashed at the last minute.'

Scenic: Marcus was accompanied by a full gospel choir for his performance

Standing ovation: Gary was quick to stand up and applaud Marcus after his song

After his performance, Louis said: 'Marcus, you are a born little pop star. soulful, likeable, amazing -you've got it all.'

Tulisa said: 'That is your best song of the series and I predict a very bright future for you, well done.'

A clearly excitable Kelly added: 'First of all, you lifted this crowd this evening higher and higher. AndI hope you have enjoyed every minute of the time you were here and I hope you know how brightand big your future is. I'm so in love with you and I'm so happy you got this far.'

Givingit their all: Little Mix chose to perform Don't Let Go again

Songbirds: Jesy and Jade couldn't control their excitement as they belted out the track for fans

And mentor Gary said:Â 'Once again well done and congrats on another amazing performance. In

the history of The X Factor I can't remember a finalist or a winner who takes hold of the stage likeyou do and shines even amongst 40 people.'

Next up was Little Mix, who sang Don't Let Go.

Talking about why they had chosen to sing that song, Leigh-Anne said: 'When we performed that forthe first time, we felt like we came together as a group.'

Unbelievable: The girls looked overwhelmed by the comments from the X Factor judges after theperformance

Mixed emotions: Tulisa couldn't stop smiling after their rendition of the track, while Kelly wasreduced to tears

Jesy added: 'It was so fun but it still felt powerful at the same time. We are so excited to be given thechance to sing this song again.'

And Leigh-Anne said: 'To do it in front of thousands of people at Wembley, the adrenaline is going tomake us sing it even better.'

Wearing sexy monochrome outfits, the girls burst out of the stage on springboards before goingstraight into the powerful track.

Following their performance, Louis said: 'I'm going to predict Tulisa that this time next year, this isgoing to be the biggest girl group in the UK by a mile. Girls, amazing, but you need the votes!'

Feeling festive? Marcus Collins started the Christmas songs with a rendition of Wham!'s LastChristmas

Delighted: Marcus said he thoroughly enjoyed the performance

An emotional Kelly said: 'I'm sorry I'm crying but I'm just so happy for y'all because I rememberwhere you started. I love you guys, congratulations.'

Gary added: 'I'm so happy tonight that you came back with that song, great performance, well done.'

And Tulisa said: 'Girls, amazing. I want to thank everyone at home who picked up the phone andkpet you in each week. You picked up the phone because you wanted them to win so those votesmeant nothing unless you pick up the phone right now. Vote for Little Mix!'

Next up, Marcus and Little Mix took to the stage once more to perform their choice of festiveclassics.

Marcus was first with a cover of Wham!'s Last Christmas, encouraging the audience to sing along ashe worked the stage in his checked three-piece suit.

Breaking it down: Little Mix kept it simple with their performance of Silent Night

Personalised: Little Mix wore jumpers printed with their names for the festive track

Afterwards, Louis said: 'Every week you bring something new and you are always happy, you'realways smiling and you're always grateful - you're work ethic is amazing.'

Tulisa said: 'This has been such a long journey for the contestants, for the judges. I think we've beenso caught up in it that we forgot It's Christmas! But you reminded us.'

The Little Mix-ican: One fan with a specially createdLittle Mix pizza

Kelly added: 'What a great early Christmas gift, ho ho ho. Marcus, I just love you and I'm so happyfor you once again. Congratulations.'

And Gary said: 'I'm going to do something I haven't done all series and I'm going to ask the wholenation to vote for you tonight. I can't tell you what a pleasure it has been to work with you, it hasmade the series for me.'

Next up was Little Mix, performing Silent Night, showcasing their amazing vocal talents with thestunning track.

Following their performance, Louis said: 'Girls, after that performance, we know we've gotsomething special. We have four lead singers ina girl band and that hasn't happened for a longtime before. It's almost like you were meant to be together - it just works. Little Mix, big future!'

And Kelly said: 'You girls sounded so great on that record. Merry fricking Christmas. And I love yoursweaters!'

Gary said: 'Simple, beautiful, emotional and very Christmassy.'

And Tulisa said: 'Girls, i have pretty much said all I can say but I just want to say again how proud ofyou I am from the bottom of my heart. You have done so well and who says that a girl group can'twin the X Factor - I believe you can do it.'

Farewell performance: Westlife performed for the last time on television as a band

Dermot then asked the judges what their personal highlights of the series were.

Louis said: 'Working with these three judges has been amazing. But Johnny and Kitty every weekbrought something new so I have to say my highlight was Johny and Kitty.'

Tulisa said: 'My highlight was every single week, the results show seeing Little Mix get through.'

And Kelly said: 'Being a mentor to such incredible talent is amazing.'

Gary concluded: 'I wanted to put a musical stamp on this show and then a Chinese lady called GoldieCheung put her leg around my neck and I thought, what am I doing here?'

Is thisthe winners' single? Marcus performs Damien Rice's Cannonball

Emotional: Marcus gets a hug from presenter Dermot O'Leary after the performance

The first guest performance came from Westlife, who were performing for the final time ontelevision as the group after announcing earlier this year that they would be splitting following afarewell tour.

Then it was time for both acts to perform Cannonball, the winner's single.

Marcus was up first, with Louis saying afterwards: 'Another powerful vocal performance. If I waslooking for the perfect pop star I would get you. All you need now is votes.'

Support: Robbie Williams and Marcus's mum Tracy sent video messages of support to theLiverpudlian ahead of the results announcement

Tulisa said: 'You really do have everything - the voice, the star quality, the personality and one of themost beautiful smiles I have ever seen.'

Kelly said: 'That was such a beautiful, emotional performance tonight and I can tell how bad youwant this and I want this for you.'

And Gary said: 'Congratulations, what a performance that was. I would never have picked that songfor you but you sing it so beautifully.'

Getting some support in video messages from his family, Robbie Williams said: 'Marcus, you areamazing and you are going to be an awesome artist.'

Stripping it back: Little Mix kept it simple with their more acoustic approach to Cannonball

Emotional: Tulisa was reduced to tears by Little Mix's final performance

His mother Tracy was also seen saying: 'I just wanted to say how very proud of you I am. Who wouldhave believed you would be standing here in the final. You're my little boy and I do hope that thatlittle boy goes on to become a really big star because you deserve it.'

Then it was the turn of Little Mix to perform Cannonball, going for a more acoustic approach withthe track.

With all the girls struggling to control their emotions, Louis said: 'Well girls, we're all gettingemotional is because four little pop princesses have been born. We need some girl power, youdeserve the votes.'

Stunned: The girls watch as they get messages of support from family and friends

Famous faces: This Morning's Holly Willoughby said she was backing Little Mix to win

Kelly said: 'Ladies, congratulations. Thinking about how far you have come, look at how dynamic you

are collectively.'

Gary said: 'Well done, you twisted this song and made into a Little Mix song which is hard to do.'

And Tulisa said: 'Jade, you are the most adorable person I have ever known, Jesy, you are inspiring,Leigh-Anne, you remind me of myself years ago and Perrie, you were born a star.'

Tearsall around: The girls struggled to control their emotions after seeing the messages

The girls were then shown messages of support from their family and friends, as well as celebrityfans including Holly Willoughby and Jessie J.

The next guest performance came from Coldplay, who performed their single Charlie Brown, beforegoing into Paradise.

Frontman Chris Martin wore a casual blue T-shirt as the group belted out their songs to apsychedelic backdrop, much to the delight of the fans.

Asked if they were fans of the show, Martin said: 'We love the show, we're so happy to be on it, it'sgreat.'

Psychedelic: Coldplay performed to a backdrop of bright colours as they belted out their songs

Sweaty: Martin said his advice to contestants was not to get as sweaty as he did

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Little Mix perform their winners single Cannonball

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