Samuel Dylan Murray Preston (born 16 January 1982^{[citation needed]}), more commonly known as Preston, is an English singer, who is the lead singer of The Ordinary Boys. He also appeared in the reality television show Celebrity Big Brother in 2006, in which he finished fourth. After The Ordinary Boys split in 2008, he embarked on a songwriting career.^{[citation needed]} and is now back leading The Ordinary Boys with a revamped lineup on a December 2011 UK tour.

Early life [edit]

Samuel Preston was born in Worthing, West Sussex.^{[citation needed]} He was educated at Sompting Abbotts public School and Bishop Luffa School.^{[citation needed]} He is son to Anthony and Miranda Preston, and brother to Alex and Lucy Preston. His grandfather is the Princeton University English professor Samuel Hynes.^[1] His brother, Alex Preston, is a novelist.^[2]

Music career [edit]

Preston became the lead singer of Worthing-based pop group, The Ordinary Boys. They had a string of top-ten hits in the UK Singles Chart. Their most famous song, Boys Will Be Boys, featured in the fifth Harry Potter movie, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

After The Ordinary Boys split, Preston started working on material for a solo album, and released the song "Dressed to Kill", on 5 July 2009 as part of T4.^[3] The song samples the introduction from the song "Happy House" by Siouxsie and the Banshees.^[4] The single was released on 7 September 2009 but failed to chart after Preston had to delay the launch and pull out of promotional performances after breaking both arms in a bicycle accident.^[5] He is now a DJ^[6] and songwriter.^[7] In 2011, Preston co-wrote the number one Olly Murs song "Heart Skips a Beat". Preston announced the reforming of the Ordinary Boys in 2011, and a new 12-date tour.^[8]

TV appearances [edit]

In January 2006, Preston appeared on Channel 4's fourth series of Celebrity Big Brother. He became close to later winner Chantelle Houghton, despite being in a relationship. Preston was evicted during the final episode on 27 January 2006, finishing in fourth place. On 24 August 2010 he returned to the show for Ultimate Big Brother along with ex-wife Chantelle; he finished sixth.

In 2007, Preston filmed a documentary on voodoo for Channel 4.^[9] He has also presented Top of the Pops and CD:UK.

In January 2007, Preston appeared as a guest panelist on comedy gameshow Never Mind the Buzzcocks. He walked out of the studio during the programme's recording, offended by jokes made at Houghton's expense by the show's host Simon Amstell.^[10] In an August 2009 interview he admitted that he regretted walking off the show and said that he would return to the programme if asked, saying "I'm struggling to think why I would have acted so weird."^[11]

Personal life [edit]

A week after the end of Celebrity Big Brother, Preston became engaged to his longtime French girlfriend, Camille Aznar. He kept in contact with Houghton, and broke up with Aznar a month later to allow Houghton to move into his Brighton flat. He and Houghton got engaged on 11 April 2006,^[12] and in an exclusive £300,000 deal each with OK! magazine,^[13] they were married on 25 August 2006 at Dartmouth House in Mayfair, London.

After their honeymoon, the couple moved to Preston's flat in Brighton, East Sussex.

On 27 June 2007, Preston and Houghton announced their separation,^[14] and received the decree nisi for their divorce on 21 November 2007.^[15]

Discography [edit]

Albums [edit]

Singles [edit]

References [edit]

This article uses bare URLs for citations. Please consider adding full citations so that the article remains verifiable. Several templates and the Reflinks tool are available to assist in formatting. (Reflinks documentation) (December 2012)

External links [edit]

• "Dressed To Kill" Single Review
• Statement on Preston's comeback