X Factor’s Alexandra Burke: my mum was too ill to watch me reach the final

X Factor star Alexandra Burke has revealed that her mum was too ill to be in the audience when she won her place in the show’s final at the weekend.

Alexandra, who has reached the show’s final three alongside Eoghan Quigg and band JLS, told the Sun that her mum, former Soul II Soul frontwoman Melissa Bell, had to skip the show because she was too weak from having kidney dialysis - something she must have three times a week after being diagnosed with diabetes-induced kidney failure.

Alexandra explained that Melissa needs a kidney transplant but she won’t let Alexandra be the donor: “Diabetes has killed every woman in my family - and it is triggered by having kids. If I donate a kidney I couldn’t have a baby as I would only have one kidney left to fight the disease.”

But Alexandra added Melissa, who missed many of Alexandra’s school singing performances because she was on tour with the Grammy Award winning band, will be there cheering her on this weekend, when Alexandra performs with Beyonce Knowles with the hope of winning the series: “She wouldn’t miss it for the world.

“She has been a massive support to me and she will be there along with all my family wearing T-shirts which say ‘Alex has the X Factor’.”