Simon Packham was born in Brighton. During his time as an actor he was a blind fiddler on HMS Bounty, a murderous vicar, a dodgy witness on The Bill and a variety of servants including Omar Sharif’s personal footman and a coffin carrier for Dame Judi Dench.

He now writes fiction and lives in West Sussex with his wife, two children, a cat called Pax, and a variety of hamsters.

When asked why he wrote The Bex Factor, Simon replied:

"As an actor, I auditioned hundreds of times. That’s why TV talent shows fascinated me from the start. But the more so-called ‘reality shows’ I watched, the more I realised that reality was being manipulated, perhaps at the expense of the contestants’ well-being. Who needs talent if you’ve got an emotionally-charged back-story?
I wanted to write a book that would allow me to explore the back-story behind the back-story. What happens if you want to keep your private life private? What happens if you just want to sing?"
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