Durham teenager Samantha Lavery sails through X Factor audition

The first episode of the new series of The X Factor kicked off last night with a mixed bag of singing hopefuls.

But Samantha Lavery, 16, from Coxhoe, Durham, was unanimously voted through to Bootcamp after a powerful version of Ellie Goulding's Explosions.

Asked why she wanted to go on the show, she said: "My grandad was a singer as well and he's, like, my inspiration.

"He had had the opportunities to do it and had to give it up to look after his family."

Samantha, who is still a student, already has her own fan page on Twitter, using the hashtag #SamanthaLaverytowin

And as compliments rained in after her audition, she Tweeted from her own account: "Massive thank you to everyone for there lovely comments. It means the world."

Once the auditions are complete, the successful contestants move to the Bootcamp to battle it out, before making it to the next round, the Six Chair Challenge.

The hopefuls will be whittled down to six plus an additional wildcard choice in each category - the girls, the boys, the overs and the groups - before being whisked across the world to take part in the judges' houses stage.

A final three from each category will then be picked by their mentor to go through to the live shows.

* The X Factor continues on ITV at 8pm tonight.