A CAMDEN Town carer still in the running to win X-Factor has told how she was nagged into entering the TV talent show by her friends.

Jennifer Phillips, 49, from Agar Grove, came through the notorious six-chair challenge on Sunday where the field is whittled down in an emotional sudden death sing-off. She now heads to chief judge Simon Cowell’s for mentoring and a final decision as to whether she will perform in the hit ITV show’s live finals.

Ms Phillips told the New Journal she had arrived in Camden after an upbringing in California and Birmingham. 

“I was raised in a church,” she said. “My mum’s brother is a pastor in America and my cousins are pastors and ministers. Singing was a passion of mine from the age of nine when my uncle got me to sing at the church and I was like ‘Oh my God, this is fantastic!’. From a gospel perspective, it was loud lungs, big voices, happy songs and I thought this is what I want to do.”

But despite her passion, she never took her singing to the next level until now, working instead as a make-up artist before training as a motivational speaker with the idea of one day having her own talk show. She said, however, that as a “people person,” she finally settled with a career as a carer.

She said: “My client has learning disabilities and I just love being with him, watching him develop and just being able to share myself with him. It’s a rewarding feeling when you can give your time to others. I spend more time talking about my client than talking about what I do and who I work for.” 

She admitted: “I thought singing for me was finished, it was done with, hello and goodbye,” but added: “When I did sing, people say to me ‘Jennifer you’re wasted, I can’t believe it, what the hell are you doing?’ 

“My friends were like ‘Jen, you’re gonna do this. I don’t care what you say’. I just went with them to shut them up, and the rest is history. They have been such a bles­sing, my friends are real, they don’t compromise, they tell you the truth. If you ask a question, be prepared for what you’re going to get.”

Ms Phillips added: “Somehow destiny has a way of coming back around and putting you back in position. I never thought I would be on X Factor. If you said to me last year that I was going to be here, I would tell you that you’re lying. Now I’m here, my job is to just give it 150 per cent every time I put the mic in my hand.”