FEW X Factor fans will forget setting eyes on outrageous great-gran Althea Gaye.

Althea lit up the auditions when she turned up dressed as a Pearly Queen. Her self-written song, Lottie's At It Again, made such an impact on judge Simon Cowell that he remarked afterwards: "I can't do this any more."

The lyrics to the song may have been baffling but it's not as though Althea was a musical novice - in 2001 she even recorded a rap song on the benefits of yoga.

And since her appearance at the show's audition, the great-gran-of-five, from Solihull, has been honing her skills. "Yes, I've since composed a concerto and I hope to play it soon. I have written a song with it, too."

Althea revelled in her X Factor experience. "The producers loved me," she recalls. "I went down an absolute bomb with them.

"But by the time I met the judges, I had been hanging around all day. And then halfway through the song, they told me that was it and it was time to stop..." Then cruel Simon turned to fellow judge Sharon Osbourne and said: "She's even older than you."

But the recognition gained from the show has been a real boost. Bookings for Althea and partner Ray Fullard, have rocketed.

"We perform in working men's clubs and in halls," she says. "I get recognised everywhere. People call me Lottie in the local pub and they have been singing the song on the bus."

Althea's showbiz career spans decades and features TV appearances with big names such as Dame Diana Rigg and Frankie Howerd. But she echoes every other X Factor act when she says: "I'm a performer. I want to be as famous as possible."

And we're lucky enough to have her performing live for Take2!
It's definitely worth seeing!!