Now that both Emma and Samantha are back in the spotlight with the second season of Lorainne Kelly's Big Fat Challenge, there's lots of renewed interest in the Chawners. (according to one preliminary estimate, the first episode attracted more than 1.5 million viewers, even competing with the Big brother finale!) For those who remember Sister Act from last season's X Factor auditions, I decided to start an Appreciation Thread for Samantha.

Over in the Showbiz Forum there's an extremely active thread debating whether Emma is the new Jade Goody, and one common sentiment is that many find Samantha the more appealing of the Chawner sisters. If you share that view, this is the place to support Samantha as she strives to achieve her dreams.

Sam's the best looking chawner

Beauty defined.

Sam's a very pretty girl and I wish her well. I hope she succeeds in her weigh loss and enjoys a happy and fulfilled life.

I concur with alfie

I third alfie. Samantha rocks.

I'm glad to see this thread. I think Samantha has a very pretty face, and frankly her personality seems more appealing than Emma's. Vocally, their talents are about equal.

Watching the new series, I think it's time for the producers to put more effort into helping Sam advance her career. For less than what they spend on vocal training for Emma (with one of the most expensive instructors in the UK), they could readily provide a car service for Sam so she could schedule appointments with hairdressing clients.

It's only fair. Whilst I'm not necessarily claiming that more voice coaching for Emma is simply throwing good money after bad, there's no doubt that a musical career is an iffy proposition for anyone, including most of the X Factor contestants who have gotten farther than Emma ever did. If Lorraine Kelly is serious about putting the Chawners to work, she should focus more on the one member of the family who seems to have a realistic hope of making a decent living.

Lovely post Tommy. I hope Sam is allowed to blossom away from her suffocating, hostile mother and brat of a sister. She genuinely seems to want to change and I hope the powers that be support her.

I love Samantha Samantha will lose the most weight.

It's great to see so much support for Sam in just one day of posts!

Let's all try to get Sam's number of Facebook friends even with Emma's.

Tomorrow is Sam's birthday!

Will she down more shots of SAM-buca than Emma managed on hers?

Sam's currently at a Wellspring slimming camp in the US and is signed up for the Jogging for Japan charity run. Join her sponsors at this link.

Bumping this to encourage people to donate to Sam's charity run!

There are new pictures of Sam up on her Facebook page and she has lost a lot of weight!

Well done, Samantha!