Michelle McManus (born 8 May 1980[3]) is a Scottish singer, columnist, radio broadcaster and television presenter who won the second and final series of the UK talent show Pop Idol in 2003.

From 2009 to 2011, McManus was a co-presenter of STV's lifestyle magazine show The Hour, originally alongside Stephen Jardine and later Tam Cowan.

Before auditioning for Pop Idol, McManus lived in the Glasgow district of Baillieston, to the east of the city with her parents and sisters.

Of the four judges, Pete Waterman in particular was critical as to whether she could make a career in the music industry, mainly due to her fuller figure appearance.

However, she was the favourite of Simon Cowell, and after being put through to the semi-final stages, the public voted McManus into the top twelve, though she entered the finals as the bookmaker's rank-outsider.

[13] When McManus won the competition, judge Pete Waterman stormed off the Pop Idol set in protest; he later branded her "rubbish".

[14] Louis Walsh, a judge of sister show Popstars: The Rivals, was bewildered by McManus's victory, and lamented that "we have to give her, her 15 minutes [of fame].

"[15] Scotsman reporter Fiona Shepherd said of the win: "McManus's victory was not some triumph of talent over image – the very opposite, in fact...

"[16] George Tyndale in the Sunday Mercury expressed similar sentiments, arguing that McManus won because of the "fat vote".

"[17] Daily Telegraph journalist Viktoria Tolstoy said McManus's victory "seemed to suggest that the pool of talent available to the judges is seriously diminishing".

[29] On 22 June 2005, McManus appeared on a 60-minute television special of You Are What You Eat with the author and TV personality Gillian McKeith in a bid to lose weight.

The book documented her journey from winning Pop Idol to appearing on You Are What You Eat, with particular reference to her weight issues and subsequent slimming.

[30] Further to this, in December 2006 McManus released a DVD called The Life Plan, a guide to healthy living, exercise and eating.

During a 2007 appearance on ITV's Loose Women, McManus stated that she believed that she was dropped due to her weight, as her record company could not build any merchandise around her image.

On television, McManus announced the Scottish votes during the Making Your Mind Up 2006 programme in March 2006, and in November 2006 she was a reporter on Children in Need live from Scotland.

[38] McManus appeared regularly as a guest co-host of the weekday Scottish lifestyle TV programme The Hour during the summer of 2009.

[49] This trilogy of shows, comprising "Michelle at the Musicals", "Reloaded" and "Pop Goes the Idol", was co-written by McManus with Bruce Devlin.

[54] In late 2017, McManus recorded a cover version of "We All Stand Together" along with Choirs with Purpose in an attempt to reach the Christmas number one spot on the UK Singles Charts.