As one half of one of Britain's most-loved duos Jonathan and Charlotte, fans were aghast when they heard the news of the two parting ways, but all wasn't over quite yet.
The split gave the pair the opportunity to go it alone for and chase solo careers in the industry, and I got the chance to chat to Charlotte Jaconelli about her relationship with Jonathan, forthcoming debut solo album 'Solitaire' and all things Les Misérables.
What led to the decision to go solo?
Well, it was kind of quite spontaneous. We were both sat down talking about the third album and what we wanted to do, and I think what we discovered in the meeting is that what we both wanted to do creatively and where we wanted to go with the music in terms of repertoire and things like that, it kind of made sense, we'd just gone on completely different pages.
And I think it was the right time for us both to go off and do our own thing and see where it takes us, I guess. Even though we've only done it in the public eye for two years I think we've been singing together for so much longer than that that we've gone through such a process, and I think it's time for us to do it on our own I suppose.
So it was a very amicable split?
Yeah, yeah definitely.
How was the experience of getting in the studio and recording on your own?
It was really cool, it was really bizarre as well because, you don't realise how many breaks you get when you record with somebody else, whereas when it's on your own it's kind of one song after the other straight away.
It was quite cool because I found myself one minute recording a big theatre song to the real classic aria, back to back.
I think I also had a lot more freedom to change things as I went along, and I think when you do things on your own you add your own little bit every now and again without having to check whether it's going to work, because you know instantly it's gonna work, which is quite cool.
As you mentioned there's a few different genres on the album, what is it about the songs you selected that resonated with you for the record?
I think with more or less all of them I had some kind of connection to them - maybe something I'd done in the past or they're all things I've wanted to try. They're all songs that when I perform I can relate, I guess. I really wanted to have this eclectic group of songs so that it didn't pin me down to one style I guess, but still staying within the classical crossover genre. So taking the more pop ballad-y, and giving them a classical stamp that may be more of a hint than completely changing them.
You duet with Kerry Ellis and Daniel Koek on the record, how did those collaborations come about?
Well the Daniel Koek one was quite funny. I took my younger sister to see Les Mis, and I'd heard of him before but I'd never seen him live, and I sat down and the performance started and I was like: 'who is this guy that's playing Jean Valjean? His voice is amazing'.
Then I found out that it was Daniel and then instantly I said to the guys at the label I wanted to duet with him on the disc and I wanted his voice on there, because I think his voice is phenomenal.
You showcased some of your tracks in early April, how was that experience?
It was bizarre, because you have like a group of people - there's probably only about 40 or 50 people there - which is a really small audience to have for that kind of thing, and you just stand there and sing three songs back to back and talk a little bit, and you can see everyone's faces.
It's quite scary to do it because I think sometimes when you're at concerts there's hundreds of people there, you don't really know what anyone's reactions are, you can just go along with the show and you just feed off applause rather than people's faces, but when you can see people's expressions and exactly what they're thinking and feeling during the performance it's scary because you think 'oh God', if they're slightly pulling the wrong face you think you're doing a bad job!
But it actually went really well and it was really fun. I think I had more fun than I thought I was, it became more of a fun night than a scary night.
How best would you describe the journey you've been on so far and how you've grown?
Oo, without sounding really cliché! (laughs) Yeah, it's been mad really. The weirdest experience because I went from just studying to being on this national TV show, to then doing two albums with Jonathan, to now have my own album. When I first started out I never even expected to be a recording artist so, everything sort of kept coming at me just one at a time in the most bizarre way. It's been a great experience though - amazing and weird, all at the same time.
Will you be touring with this album?
Hopefully! (laughs) I'm in talks. Hopefully the whole of the UK. I did a tour with Richard & Adam earlier this year and I sort of want to revisit all of the different venues that I did on that tour and maybe some more, hopefully!
I know you want to star on Broadway one day, what is it about Broadway that you love so much?
I don't know, since I was younger I've always wanted the whole Broadway/West End thing and always had it as the ultimate dream I guess. I don't know what it is, I think I get a particular buzz from being in a show and being with other castmembers and the whole singing and acting and dancing - there's something about that which is really special for me.
What would be your ideal role?
Oo, Éponine in Les Mis, I'd have to say! I'm a bit obsessed with Les Mis - I saw it for the 13th time last week which is a bit embarrassing! It's a bit of an obsession!
Finally, do you have any other projects you can share some details about?
At the moment, I'm not really working on anything else because I wanted to drive all of my attention towards the album and getting that right and making sure it's the best it can be, because sometimes when you top projects on top of each other you can get tracked away from certain things and not put yourself fully into it, so at the moment I'm just focusing on the album and hoping that is a success, fingers crossed!
Charlotte Jaconelli's debut solo album 'Solitaire' is scheduled for release on June 9.