X FACTOR hopeful Amelia Lily said her "rollercoaster of a journey" on the show has made her even more determined to win.
The singer, who was voted off in the first week only to be brought back to replace bad boy Frankie Cocozza, said being kicked off had helped her.
The teenager said: "I have had a rollercoaster of a journey. I went out in week one and came back five weeks later but you know what? If anything I think it kind of helped me.
"I came back stronger, I came back confident and I kind of figured out what kind of artist I wanted to be."
She added she was really upset about the slip-up which saw her mistakenly named as the winner by HMV this week, but insisted the show was not fixed.
Her mentor Kelly Rowland backed her, praising her work ethic.
The Destiny's Child star said: "In this music industry you have to work hard to get to a place where you want to be, but you have to work harder to stay there."
She said the Middlesbrough singer had brought the "respect factor" to the show and revealed she had even tempted her to try the town's most famous food - the Parmo - during a visit.
Rowland said: "Middlesbrough was great. She had me taste Parmo, you all know what Parmo is?
"They told me Londoners wouldn't know what Parmo is. Basically, it's fried chicken and with cheese on top of it and it's just heavenly. Anything that's fried with cheese is all right with me."
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