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X Factor Nikki exclusive

Happy times turned sour for show hopeful Touring with Sonia wrecked my career

X Factor finalist Niki Evans' first taste of fame as a 16-year-old nearly put her off showbiz forever.

Producer Pete Waterman chose her to go on tour with 80s star Sonia.

But Niki struggled with the demands of the music industry and felt pressured to lose weight and cut off her long curls.

And, talking exclusively to the Mirror, her widowed mum Annette Rolphson said her confidence is still recovering.

"The tour was her dream," revealed Annette, 56, from Polesworth, Staffs.

"Yet she came back devastated. Supporting Sonia was not a glamorous life at all.

"I had a heartbreaking call saying, 'Mum, I've got to lose weight'. She was a size 12 but lost 21lb in six weeks. She had her long hair cut off too and looked gaunt when she came home full of stress coldsores." Since then Niki, now 34 and mum to Morgan, 12, and Jonah, 10, has eked out a career in pubs and clubs - though hubby Darren's sadness at seeing her "paid peanuts" could be about to change as rave reviews on X Factor are lifting her lost confidence. At last.

Source:Daily Mirror