Andy Merry

Andrew Merry, better known as Andy Merry (born April 2, 1991, Ayr, Scotland) is a Scottish singer who rose to fame in 2011 as part of boy group The Risk which were contestants on The X Factor (UK) in 2011.

Early and personal life
Merry was born in Ayr in west Scotland on April 2, 1991. Before entering the X Factor, he was a car salesman.

The Risk
The Risk are a four-piece boyband that were initially composed of Ashley Baptiste (22, from London), car salesman Andy Merry (20, from Ayr), Burger King chef Derry Mensah (21, from London), Marlon Mckenzie (28, from Manchester), and Mitchell Mcpike. Charlie Healy (25, from Coventry) was brought into the band and Marlon and Mitchell left at judges houses stage of the competition. Healy originally auditioned in another group, The Keys, while the other three auditioned as soloists. Andy previously auditioned for The X Factor in 2008, and came second in the United Kingdom selection for the Junior Eurovision Song Contest in 2004. The band came under criticism from a Scottish band from Prestwick, who have been performing together for several years as The Risk. They asked The X Factor management to change the name of its contestants to avoid confusion.

On 28 October 2011, just before week four's live show, it was announced that original member Ashley Baptiste had decided to leave the band after stating that his heart did not lie within a boyband anymore. He was replaced with Ashford Campbell, as a fourth member. Campbell had been previously a member of Nu Vibe, but his original band had been eliminated on 16 October in week two of the competition. In Week 5, they received the fewest public votes and were sent home, after finding themselves in the bottom three with Johnny Robinson and Kitty Brucknell. Later on, Ashley went on to release his debut single, Show The People (How To Love)

Discography

 * TBA (as part of The Risk)