X FACTOR mania rolled into the North-East last night when finalists Little Mix performed in front of about 2,000 fans.

The girl group took to the stage in the Temple Park Centre, South Shields, for a concert and were joined by their mentor, Tulisa Contostavlos.

Tickets for the free event were snapped up in 20 minutes when they went on offer earlier this week.

Little Mix – Perrie Edwards and Jade Thirlwall, both 18 and from South Shields, Jesy Nelson, 20, and Leigh-Anne Pinnock, 19 – will appear in this weekend’s X Factor final alongside Amelia Lily, from Middlesbrough, and Marcus Collins, from Liverpool.

Speaking before last night’s concert, Little Mix thanked the North-East for its support, and said they had been missing home.

Jade said: “It has been so long – three or four months – since we’ve been in Shields.

We’ve missed it so much.

“We can’t believe how supportive everyone is of us.

“We know that the North- East is a very proud place, and as soon as we turned up there were posters everywhere and people cheering.”

She said the X Factor victory of fellow South Shields singer Joe McElderry in 2009 made them believe they could also top the public vote.

“The support he got in the North-East really helped him to win this competition and I’m hoping that, with the backing of the North-East, we’ve got an even better chance.”

Perrie said: “We’ve worked so hard and we feel like we do stand a chance. We’re different and we’re young and fresh and just being ourselves.”

Perrie’s mother, Deborah Dufty, revealed that the girls had been for a night out in South Shields after the earlier stages of the competition.

Ms Dufty said: “Before the live shows started all of the girls came here to rehearse.

Jade and Perrie love their home town, but Leigh-Anne and Jesy also say they love South Shields.

“Perrie took them for a night out on the seafront.

They were tempted to get up and sing, but didn’t.”