[MarkWaldorf]

yayay!

POP Idol Will Young is betting on Geordie hopeful Joe McElderry winning this year’s X Factor.

The chart-topper says he believes the South Shields teenager will be the dark horse of the competition.

Will helped put Joe, 18, through to the final 12 of the X Factor when he joined the contestant’s mentor Cheryl Cole in Morocco as the final six ‘boys’ were whittled down to three.

Now Will, 30, says he is going to lay on a bet that Joe will walk away with the £1m recording contract before Christmas.

The first of the live X Factor shows is broadcast on ITV tonight and the Pop Idol winner is confident Joe, right, will sail through.

“He is my dark horse,” Will told the Chronicle in an exclusive interview.

“I just think he’s got something. He was really nice and was very good. He had a few things he needed to work on, but I hope he listened to what I said to him.

“Watch him! I’m even going to put a bet on him – oops, I shouldn’t have said that!”