She gained recognition on ITV's Popstars: The Rivals and represented the UK at the 2005 Eurovision Song Contest in Kyiv with "Touch My Fire".

"[3] For two years, Hylton played Nala in a production of The Lion King in London's West End.

[3] She auditioned for ITV's Popstars: The Rivals, a reality television talent show in which young hopefuls sought to be picked for a place in a new manufactured group.

[1] In the summer of 2003, Hylton released her debut single "Real Things", which featured a sample of M.O.P.

Three further Top 20 hits from her debut album followed, "Surrender (Your Love)" (which sampled the Diana Ross hit "Surrender"), "Best of My Love" and a cover of Jade's "Don't Walk Away", a double A-side with a cover of Carole King's "You've Got a Friend".

[8] In late 2003, she became an opening act for American rapper Nelly on the UK leg of his international tour.

Digital Spy called it an "uptempo club number",[11] while in an 8/10 review Popjustice labelled it a "belter".

The other contestants were the 1996 UK entrant Gina G, Andy Scott-Lee, the group Tricolore, and Katie Price.

[14] In 2004, Hylton was the face of Dasani water,[15] but was dropped when the product was withdrawn from the UK market due to bad publicity.