FAME is a fickle beast as many former reality show contestants will attest, but 12 years after Stacey Solomon sang for Simon Cowell on The X factor, she is now a social media sensation who is topping the book charts.

 

Stacey who?

Back in 2009, she was a teenage single mother-of-one from Dagenham, Essex, who impressed Cowell and his fellow judges with her soulful voice.

 

But she didn’t win?

She came third, with Olly Murrs taking second place and Joe McElderry taking home the crown.

 

Did she pursue music?

She released an album in 2015, called 'Shy', but it is not music that has kept her in the spotlight.

 

So what has?

She won the tenth series of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here! in 2010 and became a panellist on the Loose Women ITV show in 2016, but it's the way she uses social media that has built her an army of followers.

 

How many?

At the moment, 4.2 million - to compare, Kylie Minogue has 2.2 million. Followers are hooked on the now mother-of-three’s content, which primarily features her “life hack” tidying tips and arts and crafts.

 

She hangs up her crisps?

She clips crisp packets on to hooks in her cupboards and lines them all up neatly, makes “fun foods” and upcycles furniture.

 

The fans lap it up?

Solomon, who is engaged to actor and presenter Joe Swash, with whom she has a one-year-old son, was proving such an online hit, she put pen to paper. “Tap to Tidy” is currently the number one book in the UK, with the title taken from Instagram where she shows a before and after image of whatever project she is working on. The book is billed as being all about “organising, crafting and creating happiness in a messy world”. 

 

TV?

She is set to host her own lifestyle and home improvement BBC series later this year, “Sort Your Life Out”, helping families declutter.

 

The “Stacey Solomon Effect”?

If she mentions a product, it sells out. Some simple £2.50 white storage containers she bought in Ikea disappeared off shelves and when she holidayed at a hobbit-style cottage in Wales, the holiday firm’s own Instagram followers skyrocketed by tens of thousands, their website crashed and their cottages booked out for this year.

 

Small businesses are grateful?

The star regularly mentions small businesses and last year received a scrap book of thank you notes from the array of firms who said her support had changed their lives. 

 

The downside?

By sharing every detail of her day, the rough comes with the smooth and online trolling is an issue. Earlier this month, Solomon took a brief break from Instagram after a follower branded her "horse face", to which she replied: "Horses are so beautiful. Thank you.”

 

She’s laughing all the way to the bank?

She has just snapped up a £1.2 million home in Essex with its own library and 2.5 acres of land.