Jai McDowall: 'My family made me so nervous'

Jai McDowall has revealed how the prospect of singing in front of his family gave him stage fright. The Britain's Got Talent champion admitted he had a serious case of nerves before performing on stage for the show's tour in June, as his loved ones watched on. "It was scary in Glasgow as that's where all my friends and family came to see me. It made me much more nervous and I was nearly sick before I went on!" he said. But since then, Jai - who is set to sing for the Queen at the Royal Variety Performance in December - insisted he has improved in front of huge crowds. "It was great training. I've done some other gigs since and it's just been brilliant. I'm definitely getting more used to being up on stage," he added. His debut album Believe, which will be released on December 12, includes his renditions of U2's With Or Without You, Coldplay's Fix You and a duet with Hayley Westenra. "We've recorded a song called The Prayer, which has been made famous by the likes of Celine Dion and Andrea Bocelli. Hayley was a dream to work with and she's got such a beautiful voice," he recalled. Jai now hopes to follow in the footsteps of former Britain's Got Talent star Susan Boyle. "I would love to try my luck in America or Australia. I love the idea of travelling and who knows what will happen?"

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Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix.

An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.