Leon Jackson: Don't Call This Love (Live on X Factor)

Leon Jackson performs Don't Call this Love live on X Factor.

Leon’s story is the stuff of dreams. The shy teenager from a council estate in Scotland won the hearts of the nation with his stunning voice and steadfast determination. Week after week he proved exactly why he deserved to win The X Factor, taking every single knock and returning each week stronger and stronger.

Born in Whitburn, West Lothian, Scotland in 1988, his father, Philip Johnson, walked out when he was just two years old. He was brought up by his mother, Wendy, in a small maisonette on the edge of the city. Leon left Whitburn for the first time a year ago when he won a place at The X Factor boot camp. On July 4th 2008 he handed over the keys of his childhood home to his mum – having used part of his £1 million prize money to buy her the place they’d shared for 19 years.

Bizarrely, Leon never wanted to be a performer preferring to spend his time playing football. “I was never into music as a kid. I wasn’t into bands, I didn’t go to stage school. I sort of grew into music. It was my mum who first bought a copy of Michael Buble. It was a copy of his CD and I played it to death. I taught myself to sing listening to his music but before doing The X Factor I’d only ever done Karaoke. I was the Karaoke King of the Chicago Rock Cafe in the arcade where I worked in Gap.”

On X-Factor, Leon was chosen as the peoples’ pop star and his life has changed beyond comprehension. “I’m living the dream. I’ve gone from this very humble background in Scotland to this incredible flat on the river in London which I share with my X Factor pal, Andy Williams.”