At 13, Chico returned to the UK to complete his schooling - a frustrating experience, as he first had to learn English. Even then he was an entertainer, captivating people with his charm although his route to stardom took in a range of roles including trainee hairdresser, engineer, dancer and compeer singer. It seemed only natural that this man of multitudinous talents should come to prominence in the UK’s favourite talent show, X-Factor.
Chico’s kind heartedness, generosity and sheer talent captivated the nation with his incredible showmanship in jumping into Sharon Osborne’s pool with a live microphone to amazing dance routines and vocal performances.
Following the show it came as no surprise when his first single ‘Chico Time’ knocked Madonna off the top of the charts for his first number 1. The world has been his oyster ever since and he has been on all the top TV shows.
He has been the face of Nickelodeons’ anti-bullying campaign, received rave reviews as Aladdin, notched up a ‘Blind date’ with Dame Edna Everage, and written a feature film script, ‘Lunchbox’ in which he co-stars with his brother JC Mac scheduled to begin principle photography in 2010. The pair also wrote, produced and starred in the short film ‘Winner Takes All’ which received a BAFTA nomination and was in the official selection of over 40 film festivals worldwide and now have a slate of feature films in various stages of the development process.
Along the way he has found plenty of time to spend at home with his daughter, Lalla-Khira now aged two and is now very much a family man.
Charity is something that Chico takes very seriously and is always willing to lend a hand when he is called upon. He has participated in many events and fundraising schemes for Barnadoes, Wishing On A Star, Kidscape, NSPCC, Childline, Great Almond Street and Children in Need to name but a few. He has also staged fund raising events for his own charity, Rainbow Child that he formed with his partner Daniela Rakic and JC Mac see www.rainbowchild.co.uk The charity aims to help underprivileged children all over the world. Currently raising funds to build orphanages for the rubbish dump kids of Cambodia and merry go-rounds / water pumps for children in Africa.
2008 was a big year for Chico, he was in much demand for numerous TV appearances including ‘Loose Women’, ‘Toonattick’, ‘Olivia Lee’s Naughty Bits’, ‘The Real Hustle’, ‘GMTV’ and received rave reviews for his part in ‘The Teams, Ant versus Dec‘ during the whole series of the brilliant ‘‘Saturday Night Takeaway’. He also came 3rd in the ITV 2 mile high reality show ‘Celeb Air’.
Music wise Chico is just finishing a new album with the world renowned team at Metrophonic led by Brian Rawlings who was responsible for the Enrique Iglesias monster hit ‘Hero’, and Cher’s ‘I Believe’. After writing and recording around 30 tracks over the last 3 years 13 have now been selected for this superb album. The first offering from this is the single ‘Crazy’, which is scheduled for release in summer 2009 and is widely tipped to be a huge hit.
Most of all, Chico is a live performer in demand wherever people who know what it’s like to share a good time. The coming months see an eight week run on stage with Butlins then a promotional tour up and down the country for ‘Crazy’.
Chico is currently in talks with various TV production companies with regards to separate TV shows and documentaries, One is a family variety show the other a motivational fun children’s show aimed 3 to 7 year olds teaching positive lessons through song and dance, both have been in development for the last 18 months. He has also just finished a documentary called My God and one called curvy cola to be aired early 2010.
With other opportunities already lining up including parts in the feature films ‘31 North 62 East’ with Craig Fairbrass and John Rhys-Davies and ‘Whatever it Takes’ with Shane Richie it’s plain to see that the UK is still very much on Chicotime.