X Factor’s Sam Bailey tickets on sale on Friday

The former prison officer has already hit number one with Skyscraper, supported Beyonce on her current tour, and performed with her idol Michael Bolton at the National Television Awards.

She said: “I’ve been performing since I was 15 but I never got to where I wanted to be.

“Then real life, needing to pay bills, marriage and children happened and you just put everything on hold. X-Factor gave a woman like me a chance. It gave me my confidence back, it gave me music back, and this is for all those people out there who believed in me!”

She plays Blackpool Opera House on Tuesday, February 10, 2015.

Tickets go on sale on Friday, February 28, at 9am.