X Factor star who slept on park benches: Former homeless singer James new favourite to win show

Talented James Arthur admitted that he ran away from home in his teens and used music to heal his anguish

The hottest act in tonight’s X Factor used to be homeless and sleep on park benches.

Talented James Arthur, 24 – who will be seen on millions of TV screens wowing the judges and audience with a stunning performance – has admitted that he ran away from home in his teens.

His said that his life had spiralled out of control following his parents’ break-up – and he ended up turning to music to heal his anguish.

James, who was brought up in Middlesbrough and now lives in a bedsit, recalled: “My mum and dad split up when I was very young and they didn’t have any sort of relationship with each other for my entire life.

“I went off the rails, especially at school. I used to get suspended and I ended up sleeping rough.”

James eventually went into foster care, where he immersed himself in music.

“I just wanted to get away, so initially music was a coping mechanism,” he explained.

He is now one of the favourites to reach this year’s X Factor final, thanks to his mash-up of judge Tulisa’s song Young with his own lyrics.

Amazingly, James’s mum Shirley Ashworth and his dad Neil Arthur were both cheering him on at his Newcastle audition – the first time they had been in the same room together for 22 years.

After his emotional performance, new judge Nicole Scherzinger said: “Well, James, now I see why your mum and your dad put their differences aside.

“I am looking for an artist who inspires me and that’s exactly what you did today.

"You inspired me and that’s because you sat on that stage and you bared your soul to us.”

And Louis Walsh told him: "James, you’re a real original and I think from today on, your life is totally going to change."

Another stand-out act tonight is 30-year-old Kye Sones, who works as a chimney sweep.

An impressed Louis told the Middlesex hopeful: “Kye, you’ve been cleaning chimneys with a voice like this?

“You were born to sing. You weren’t born to clean chimneys.”

X Factor and ITV bosses are hoping that tonight’s show, which starts at 7.45pm on ITV1, will pull in far more viewers than last week’s debut.

Just 8.1million tuned in, compared with 11million for last year’s first programme.

Executives are blaming last weekend’s hot weather, saying people were outside enjoying the heatwave instead of watching TV.

But with rain forecast for this bank holiday weekend, they hope ratings will be higher.