MEET Jack Woodward.

You could be seeing a lot more from the Lymm singer-songwriter soon because the 24-year-old is hoping to appear on this year’s X Factor after impressing the organisers of show’s live tour.

Just a day after applying for the ITV music talent contest, Jack was invited to play his own song, Fly Away, in front of 4,500 people at the Brighton Centre during farewell performances by 2017 finalists and semi-finalists.

The former Lymm High student said: “About half an hour after applying for The X Factor a woman from the show gave me call and told me I’d been shortlisted for a competition to perform on the live tour.

“The following day I was told I’d been selected as the winner.

“As you can imagine, as an unsigned musician there are plenty of people you chat to who will promise you the world and sometimes it doesn’t turn out that way.

“So when I got the call I was quite surprised. I thought they must have had a problem with my application.

“I didn’t take it seriously until I got there. I thought I’d just be on a little stage.

“I went down to London and met one of the scouts from the show who accompanied me all day.

“We then went to the Brighton Centre and I was pretty overwhelmed by the size of the venue. It was a huge.

“None of the finalists or semi-finalists had arrived at that point so it was up to me to do the sound check.

“So I was sound checking this enormous venue that can hold 4,500 people with this incredible monitoring system.”

Jack, who has previously supported Rae Morris, then got to meet all the show’s finalists and semi-finalists who shared their stories of life in the spotlight.

He added: “They were really nice – so welcoming and so friendly. They really made me feel at home.

“That night I watched the first half from the sound desk then I got ready during the interval. I was going on after the winners, Rak-Su.

“I was behind the curtain backstage and all the finalists were wishing me luck.

“It was pretty amazing and it’s an unbelievable feeling when you’re coming off that stage. I don’t think I’ve ever felt so much adrenalin coursing through me.

“But people seemed to love it. They were putting the light on their phone and waving it around and they were shouting my name.

“Later on people were getting pictures with me and even the next morning at the hotel a woman recognised me while I was getting breakfast and asked me to say hello to her son. So I felt famous for about 12 hours.”

Jack is now hopeful about being selected for the 2018 show later this year – but time will tell.

He said: “I think it means I’m in the mix for this year’s competition hopefully.

“Obviously nothing’s guaranteed but it can’t hurt my chances that I won the competition and I’ve performed already at that huge venue.

“It would mean everything. I’ve worked pretty solidly on my music full time for the past two and a half years. It’s been my dream since I was 13 or 14 to make it as a singer. It’s so difficult to make it these days. You’ve got to take any opportunity that you can.

“The X Factor is a huge platform and to perform in front of millions on television would be a real dream.”

Fly Away – the 2016 song that Jack performed for The X Factor live tour – was recorded at Sugar House Studios where Viola Beach made Swings and Waterslides.

Since then Jack has released his new EP Higher in January – and the live experience has spurred him on to keep writing.

He added: “It was strange but when the stakes are high or if there’s a bigger crowd you kind of thrive on it so I hope I get that chance again. It raises your game. I definitely felt more confident afterwards.”