The countdown is on for the race to Christmas number 1. There was a time that it was almost a given that the winner of The X Factor would automatically reach the top spot. But over the years, we’ve seen plenty of surprises, novelty entries and controversial decisions. As things stand, the latest Christmas number 1 odds are in the favour of LadBaby, who could well be on his way to a hat-trick of number 1 singles at Christmastime. His upcoming single is yet to be announced, but there’s no doubt it will contain ‘sausage rolls’ again! And as we countdown our controversial entries, we begin with the UK blogger and YouTube star.

2019: LadBaby

There was a huge surprise when LadBaby not only beat the likes of Lewis Capaldi and Tones and I, who had been at the top spot for 10 weeks, to the Christmas number 1. But LadBaby, real name Mark Hoyle, secured his second Christmas number 1 in as many years. This time, his take on I Love Rock n Roll, made famous by Joan Jett (and later, Britney Spears) was given a porky twist, as he sang, I Love Sausage Rolls. As usual, there were plenty of classics thrown into the mix – the likes of Mariah Carey, The Pogues, and Wham! But LadBaby beat them all and took the crown.

Weeks at number 1: 1

2018: LadBaby

LadBaby pulled off a massive shock the year before to secure his first Christmas number 1 – and his single We Built this City… on Sausage Rolls, a cover of Starship’s We Built this City, was the first novelty song to claim the festive top spot since Bob the Builder’s Can We Fix It? in 2000. His charity single, with profits in aid of food bank network The Trussell Trust, beat the likes of Ava Max and Ariana Grande to the top spot. His reaction was priceless, and he told officialcharts.com: “I’m honestly speechless and lost for words. Thank you so much. YES MAAATE!”

Weeks at number 1: 1

2009: Rage Against the Machine

The song originally peaked at number 25 in the charts, back in 1993, but a huge internet campaign to get it to number 1 worked. Between 2005 and 2008, the Christmas number 1 went to the winner of The X Factor, with Shayne Ward, Leona Lewis, Leon Jackson and Alexandra Burke all bagging top spot with their winner’s songs. But sadly, no number 1 for Joe McElderry and his version of Miley Cyrus’ The Climb. Killing in the Name sold 500,000 downloads.

Weeks at number 1: 1

2000: Bob the Builder

Children’s TV’s favourite builder reached number 1, during the year of the Millennium bug – the first novelty song since Mr Blobby in 1993. The theme tune to the TV programme Bob the Builder, beat Westlife to the festive top spot, and was the biggest selling single of the year in the UK, selling over 1 million copies. Controversial in the sense that it’s not a traditional Christmas song, there’s no denying Bob’s popularity, and it proved to be a worthy winner.
Weeks at number 1: 3