Josie Matthews

Josie Outcast (born Josie Matthews on 13 April, 1988) is a British pop singer who rose to fame after coming second place in URAPS Idol 7. She eventually outsold and outlasted the winner, Olivia Dimuzio. She often appears in the tabloids for her controverisal outbursts and opinions.

2006: Reflection
Josie Matthews was born on 13 April, 1988 in England. Her cousin is moderately successful popstar Meli Kleindienst. She won various beauty pageants as a child and won many dance competitions. She rose to fame on the seventh series of Uraps Idol, where she came second to Olivia Dimuzio. Her debut single, the Innocent-penned "Find That Crown", was released shortly after the competition. It was a top ten hit.

Josie's career really picked up when she collaborated with Taylor Brookes for the song "Flirt". The song went on to become #1. It was certified platinum and ultimately was the 11th best-selling single of 2006. The single was released prior to the debut album "Reflection", which has now been certified diamond.

Her career was further boosted when the follow-up single, "Waking Up To Pieces", written by Kati, became another top three hit. During this time, Josie also started seeing Mike from the boyband Emblaze.

The fourth single, "Lush Fashion", was an AA-side that consisted of fan favourite "Lush" and a new song entitled "Fashion". It coincided with the launch of Josie's fashion line Flirt by Josie Matthews. The single became Josie's third consecutive top five hit. Josie's relationship with Mike also ended.

Josie released a final single from the album, "Unspoken". It failed to do as well as the previous singles, due to minimal promo. However, it pushed the album to its diamond status, which was Josie's aim for the single.

2007: Resurrection
The beginning of the Resurrection era started in April when she released a duet with Alesha. The song, "Just for the Thrills", became Josie's fourth consecutive top five and her highest charting song since "Flirt". The single was backed by intense media coverage, as a love triangle between Alesha, Josie and Alfie Outcast erupted.

On 9 June, 2007, Josie Matthews was announced as dead. She was found naked and dead, with no real evidence, in the early hours of the morning. Her husband (then boyfriend) Alfie Outcast was the prime suspect, along with his alleged mistress Scarlet of the Sleazy Sisters. Other suspects included Alesha and Josie's cousin Meli Kleindienst. Despite a funeral and mass mourning, Josie Matthews was not dead. Almost a month after the fake death, her mother went to mourn at Josie's tomb. Josie Matthews then reportedly stood up and went shopping.

The death was a well-planned sick publicity stunt, master minded by Josie. She announced a new single "Josie Is Dead", featuring Shell Ruin, to be released 30 July. The song charted in the top five and was followed by Josie's second album Resurrection, which was written and produced entirely by Alesha. The follow-up single, the melodramatic "Girl, Interrupted", also reached the top five. Matthews also launched her latest fashion collection for H&M, J'adore.

Josie's next single was a duet with her then-fiance Alfie Outcast. The couple were married around the time of the single's release. They released an EP on Christmas week, fronted by the title track "Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea".

2008: Greatest Hits
After the wedding, Josie started releasing under the name Josie Outcast. She released a "comeback" single in April 2008 entitled "Josie, Oh!". Due to a lack of promotion, the song became her first single to miss the top ten. She quickly announced a new AA-side single, "What Else Is There?/Google Me". The song will be released 2 June, with her greatest hits album released a week earlier.

Personal life
In the summer of 2006, a romance between Mike of popular boy band Emblaze and Josie was formed. Mike appeared briefly in Josie's video for "Waking Up To Pieces", and Josie appeared in Emblaze's "Easy Target". The pair dated for around three months, but in October, the relationship came to an end. No formal announcements were made and neither have spoken about their break-up.

Josie found love again in April of 2007 with fellow URAPS Idol alum, Alfie Outcast. They met through their mutual friend Alesha and things began to take off from there. However, the relationship took a turn for the worse while Josie was promoting "Just For The Thrills". A love triangle erupted, ending Alesha and Josie's friendship. They fought over Alfie, but Alesha took things to the next level. She attempted to kill both herself and Alfie in a car accident. Alesha checked herself into rehab, and Josie and Alfie have since made up with her.

The fake death brought a new controversy to Josie's personal life, when it was revealed that Alfie was having a secret affair with Sleazy Sisters member Scarlet. Despite this, they remained together. She turned down a proposal from Alfie in July 2007, but no reasons were given. However, following Outcast's second attempt, she accepted. They were married in December of 2007. In April 2008, the Outcasts made headlines again for their marital problems.

Josie is also the cousin of Meli Kleindienst. She is also in a party-hard social circle, with such acts as Alesha, Buffi, Putanovska, Shell Ruin and Taylor Brookes.

Filmography
Josie has also crossed the threshold into acting. She partially filmed a horror movie titled Bloody Mary in 2006. However, midway through filming, Josie walked out and the film was pulled. She said that she was sexually assaulted and harrassed by her co-star, the Turkish paedophile Kantar. She appeared in another horror movie later that year, Madhouse with Ben Parker. The film did reasonably well. In 2007, Josie appeared in Heartbreakers 2 with Alesha.