X Factor’s Holly Tandy has revealed how 2017 has seen her life turned around.
The teenager says she was left a “skeleton” after a string of bad luck, which ended with a nasty car crash.
“I was approaching my GCSEs, I had limited friends and I felt very lonely,” Holly opened up this week ahead of the live shows. “Then I got a kidney infection and I had a run of about ten infections in a month.
“I was quite poorly for a while and I lost a lot of weight. Then I was in a car accident.”
Holly told OK! magazine: “I got a really bad back… but it was more the mental effect. After that I lost my confidence. I felt out of control and I began having nightmares.”
She added: “If you had met me four months ago, I wasn’t the same girl. I was a little skeleton.
“When I auditioned in June I’d just got well again. I really do feel like I deserve to be here.”
Holly chose to sing Rihanna’s Russian Roulette at judges’ houses last weekend to make the live shows.
Holly said of making the final stages: “It’ll be that self-belief; it’s a platform for me to grow as an artist, to find out who I really am and what I am capable of.
“Hopefully I can make a career out of this and people will enjoy listening to me.
“I want to inspire people, especially young girls who may have a dream but don’t know if they can make it come true.”
And she added of her hopes for five years from now: “I see myself selling out arenas, making music and working with other artists.
“I’d love to write my own songs, I’m passionate about music and want to make it my career.”
The X Factor 2017 continues this weekend on ITV with the very first of the live shows.
The X Factor will start on Saturday at 8:20PM and return Sunday at 7PM.