Well it was an early start arriving at the studios by 8.00am, this is really early for me as I usually wake around midday as I work nights.

We were greeted by the MKOM staff and shown around, we were also given a dressing room for the day to share with our partners for the show, my partner was my elder bother Erick. Already I was getting excited and it was only 10.00am. Our dressing room was opposite Kat Deeleys from CDUK and just down the hall was Nelly Furtado, Shirley Manson (Garbage) and S Club 7.

We were then briefed on the day and taken to the studios for our first rehearsal. Entering the studio was amazing, it was smaller than I expected but looked great, there were lights, big screens and people everywhere putting the last finishing touches to the set. We than ran through our song about three times so camera angles could be set and we knew where to stand and look, and which outfits looked best under the studio light. We then had an hour break before we had to start getting ready for dress rehearsal in the afternoon, during this time on the way back to our dressing room we couldn't believe our luck as we bumped into S Club 7, we introduced ourselves and had a quick chat, and I must say they were very pleasant and took the time to talk to us rather than walk away.....hello to Rachael if you ever read this. We then changed into our suits for the show and headed off to make up, now I must point out at this time that it's 2.30pm in the afternoon, and the show wasn't been filmed until 7.30pm, even so we now had to stay in our clothes that we had chosen to wear on the show for the rest of the day.

In the Make up room we were transformed into healthy looking guys that had just been on a two week holiday, aaaahhhhhhhh the magic of TV, and then we headed back to the studio for a dress rehearsal. This time the studio was almost ready and looked unbelievable, we then started the dress rehearsal and had to play as we would on the show that evening. The run through at this point isn't hosted by Michael, but by the producer, this is so when Michael meets u on the night the response is more spontaneous and this really works. As the afternoon got underway we were asked if we wouldn't mind rehearsing the jackpot, and I really didn't want to as I thought it might jinx us in case we reached the real final later that evening. But we did anyway and to our amazement answered all four questions and won the jackpot in the rehearsal and from that point on I was convinced we weren't going to win as we had tempted fate.

After the dress rehearsal we had just enough time to get some food and we were on our way back to the studio but this time to meet the man himself and play for the real jackpot. Upon entering the studio we were first confronted by a audience of 500 people clapping and cheering this is the point when ure stomach starts turning over, then the music starts and you hear the voice over man saying " And now hhheeeeeerrrrrrreeeeessssss MICHAEL". I've gotta say he looked a little nervous to start but as soon as he got going, his confidence shone through and after 5 minutes he had the audience in the palm of his hand, a true professional. He then introduced himself to all of us and even took the time to send a message to Erick's daughter, Grace, who was watching at home. He was taller than I expected and looked great up close, I have said this about other stars I have met like Robbie Williams and Liam Gallagher but he has the IT factor that makes him a great star. We had already ran through our song nine times that day ( mama told me not to come ) but this time we had Michael watching us and a full studio, it was great I felt like I was on cloud nine and we really rocked the place.

As this was Michaels first show back he was on top form and the show took a bit longer to record than usual, about 2 hours longer, but we have some great memories of this and bits that weren't shown on TV. By the time we had reached sing the song the atmosphere was really hotting up and the first team was eliminated, then we went head to head with the twins on our megamix years and we just scrapped through to the final and the chance of scooping the £16000 jackpot. At this point Michael was great, he told us to relax and whatever happened we were going to hopefully get at least one right so we would walk away with a bit of cash each, we then reached over and shook his hand and thanked him for a great day and experience. Michael then asked us to hit the button for the first family member worth £1000 which was the son, the clock started ticking and before Michael could get the first clue all the way out my brother pulled Ricky Martin from somewhere and it was right. Wow, 4 seconds. The next family member was the mum and this we struggled on and at 32 seconds again my brother got it right, Sandy Shaw this was worth £2000......now I'm getting really nervous. The next family member was the dad, the clock began and Michael read out "he was born in India" and I answered CLIFF RICHARD in about 5 seconds, stop the clock well done lads Cliff Richard, thanks mum for being a fan, this was worth £3000 we now had to guess the daughter, we had 24 secs left and the clock started, my first guess was pink but this was wrong then Erick shouted out Mariah Carey stop the clock we had done it with 11 seconds to spare, £10000 plus the rest of the money a total of £18600, I just remember jumping all over Erick and Michael and almost crying because I'm getting married in March and this money has paid for a dream wedding.

All in all this was a fantastic day we shall both never forget, Michael is a true professional and a nice guy. By the time we had finished celebrating and got back to our hotel it was about 2.00am, a long day but probably the best day of my life.