Matthew Samson

Age: 21

Hometown: Cape Town

Occupation: Musician

Matthew considers making the Top 18 a long-overdue bit of good luck in his life. “I was born with a hole in my heart and I have a huge scar on my back from the operation to fix it,” he told the team at the Idols auditions back in February.

“Then, when I was six, I broke my leg – at Madiba’s house! I’m friends with Madiba’s grandson, Mbuso, and I was at his birthday party and he was given a little pee-wee motorcycle and I drove it into a wall!” he laughs.

“Then, when I was living in the States, I broke my nose playing American football! Since then I’ve broken my nose, like four other times as well.”

But Matt says all those obstacles in his life were easy to overcome, “because you just need to be positive and realise that everything comes from a place of love”, he says.

As the son of producer Cedric Sampson, Matt grew up in the music business. “I have five siblings so it’s a big family, all extremely talented at what they do, so I was always inspired!” he says.