Luna
12-10-2005, 10:23
X FACTOR extrovert Chico Slimani was convicted of indecent exposure after going full frontal when he was a stripper.
The Moroccan singer let it all hang out during a 'ladies only show' at a Barbados nightclub that led to a change in the island's exposure law.
He and brother John 'Mac' Campbell, who stripped with him, were arrested at the airport before the flight home.
They were charged, convicted, reprimanded and discharged.
Their show in 1994 sparked an island debate with some men blasting women for seeking "cheap thrills".
Many women said men had watched naked women dancers for years.
The law was later broadened to allow acts like Chico's.
He joked last night: "Barbados wasn't ready for Chico - they had to change a law to accommodate me!"
Bridgend-born Chico, one of 12 finalists on the ITV1 talent show, was raised in Morocco by his grandparents after his parents split. He didn't see electricity until he was 11 and worked as a goatherd until the age of 13.
He returned to live in Crawley, West Sussex, and qualified as an engineer. He was a hairdresser and an electrician before turning to stripping.
He said: "There's no denying I was a stripper. I went round the world. I did my thing and shook my dingaling. What can I say? You are doing a job when it's money for nothing and ladies for free. I loved every minute.
"Then I was exposing myself, but now I'm expressing myself on X Factor, from the physical to the musical."
Chico, 34, admits he is the weakest singer in Sharon Osbourne's over 25s. She has favoured him because of his "charisma", saying: "Love him or hate him, he's a born entertainer. I think he's great, he's got it - the X Factor."
But she was stunned to learn of his former life as a stripper. "No way - bloody hell," said Sharon, 53.
The Moroccan singer let it all hang out during a 'ladies only show' at a Barbados nightclub that led to a change in the island's exposure law.
He and brother John 'Mac' Campbell, who stripped with him, were arrested at the airport before the flight home.
They were charged, convicted, reprimanded and discharged.
Their show in 1994 sparked an island debate with some men blasting women for seeking "cheap thrills".
Many women said men had watched naked women dancers for years.
The law was later broadened to allow acts like Chico's.
He joked last night: "Barbados wasn't ready for Chico - they had to change a law to accommodate me!"
Bridgend-born Chico, one of 12 finalists on the ITV1 talent show, was raised in Morocco by his grandparents after his parents split. He didn't see electricity until he was 11 and worked as a goatherd until the age of 13.
He returned to live in Crawley, West Sussex, and qualified as an engineer. He was a hairdresser and an electrician before turning to stripping.
He said: "There's no denying I was a stripper. I went round the world. I did my thing and shook my dingaling. What can I say? You are doing a job when it's money for nothing and ladies for free. I loved every minute.
"Then I was exposing myself, but now I'm expressing myself on X Factor, from the physical to the musical."
Chico, 34, admits he is the weakest singer in Sharon Osbourne's over 25s. She has favoured him because of his "charisma", saying: "Love him or hate him, he's a born entertainer. I think he's great, he's got it - the X Factor."
But she was stunned to learn of his former life as a stripper. "No way - bloody hell," said Sharon, 53.