Despite being knocked out of this year’s X Factor just one round before the live shows, James Hooke is determined to make his singing dream a reality.

Mr Hooke, 32, of London Road, Chippenham, managed to beat 210,000 hopefuls to make it through to the boot camp stage of the hit show where he survived to the last 48 singers.

The ITV1 show will start again in a few weeks time when viewers will see Mr Hooke on at least four of the season’s episodes.

His soulful voice even made TV nasty man Simon Cowell admit he had the best voice he had heard that day.

Mr Hooke said: “It was absolutely amazing and, although I am obviously gutted that I didn’t make it through, I am incredibly proud of myself.

“My first audition was in April when I sang in front of 2,500 people in Cardiff and managed to get through that round with Simon Cowell saying I had the best voice he had heard that day.

“The most nerve wracking bit was probably when I had to sing in front of 3,500 people in the Hammersmith Apollo last Saturday – it was unbelievable. I made it through to the final five men left in the over 25s category, which was bittersweet because I had got so far and just missed out.

“I will appear on four of the TV shows so that will be interesting watching myself on TV.”

Mr Hooke, who runs different event nights throughout Chippenham, has given the lowdown on the judges – Simon Cowell, Dannii Minogue, Cheryl Cole and Louis Walsh.

He said: “Simon is a wonderful bloke and really took the time to chat to us – not like you see on the television.

“Dannii was wicked – a really nice girl and Cheryl was just like Cheryl Cole really.

“Louis was quite quiet but still a nice guy. I will definitely be back to try out next year and in the mean time I will just be getting the practice in.”

Anyone interested in booking Mr Hooke for a gig can email him at jhooke@live.co.uk