JLS had bizarre band name before they were forced to change it

They may have risen to fame on The X Factor as JLS, but did you know that the boyband originally formed under a different moniker?

Since coming second to Alexandra Burke on the 2008 series of Simon Cowell’s singing show, the foursome has gone on to do great things.

JB Gill has turned his hand to agriculture, Aston Merrygold previously participated on Strictly Come Dancing, and Oritsé Williams was crowned champion of ITV’s celebrity dance show, Stepping Out.

Arguably the most successful of the four is radio DJ Marvin Humes who is currently participating in series 23 of I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!

Earlier this week, the 38-year-old appeared on the small screen to teach former Made In Chelsea star Sam Thompson the choreography to ‘Everybody In Love’.

After he nailed the moves, the dad-of-three then went on to show the 31-year-old some moves from 2011’s ‘She Makes Me Wanna’.

In a later piece to camera, Humes joked that the pair were now ‘working on a tour’.

With Humes belting out some of JLS’ biggest hits Down Under, many viewers may still be unaware that the group’s name wasn’t always set in stone.

Jim Dyson/Redferns

Prior to auditioning for The X Factor, the group attempted to make their way in the music industry by ‘knocking’ on record labels’ doors.

At the time of their initial formation, the quartet were known as UFO, rather than JLS.

Amazingly, UFO stood for ‘Unique Famous Outrageous’.

However, Humes, Merrygold, JB, and Williams were unfortunately forced to change the group’s name ahead of their infamous audition.

This was because another British group were already performing under the nickname.

So, to win Cowell, Danni Minogue, Cheryl Cole and Louis Walsh’s approval and a place at Bootcamp, the decision was made to change the group’s name.

The four landed on JLS - an initialism that supposedly stands for ‘Jack the Lad Swing’.

Following Humes and Thompson busting out some moves on I’m A Celeb, many ITV viewers have taken to social media to discuss their name.

One X (formerly Twitter) user said: “My whole world collapsed when I found out that JLS didn’t in fact stand for 'just love songs' like I thought it did in 2010.”

A second wrote: “F**k off does JLS stand for Jack the Lad Swing”

“Jack the Lad Swing! Been common knowledge for years,” replied another.

A fourth viewer simply wrote: “Being serenaded by Marvin of JLS.... THAT SHOULD BE MEEEE #ImACeleb.”

You can tune into I’m A Celebrity every night at 9pm on ITV1 and ITVX.

Topics: Celebrity, Music, Im A Celebrity

Ella Scott