When Mary Byrne stepped on stage to audition for The X Factor last summer, she wowed the judges and got a standing ovation with her powerful rendition of an old Shirley Bassey hit, I (Who Have Nothing).
It was an ironic choice for Byrne, who worked all hours on checkout No 40 at Tesco's Ballyfermot branch in Dublin, and had scrimped and saved all her life, bringing up her daughter Deborah, now 24, single-handed.
Now, though, Byrne is touring in the stage version of The X Factor show, she has a new album and she is reportedly in line to earn £1 million (Dh5.9 million) from lucrative advertising deals with Tesco and Marks & Spencer.
Not a bad result for a 51-year-old with arthritis in both knees and a deep-seated lack of self-confidence, who, in a few short weeks, rose to become the most unlikely star since Susan Boyle.
More important, says Byrne, is the fact that the heartache which held her back from singing for two decades is behind her. After years of pining for the man who abandoned her when she became pregnant with her daughter, Byrne says she is finally able to move on.
"Throughout my life, relationships have destroyed my confidence and stopped me from having the guts to get up and sing," she explains. "Now, for the first time in my life, I feel empowered."
Her most moving performance during The X Factor was her version of U2's All I Want Is You, which she dedicated to Deborah's father, saying: "All I ever wanted was him. He was the only real love of my life."
But despite her increasingly public profile, Byrne always refused to publicly name Deborah's father, who lived yards away from their home in Dublin.
However, three months ago a newspaper revealed him to be 47-year-old caterer and father of two Robbie Walsh, who still lives nearby. "All my feelings for him changed the moment his name became public," says Byrne. "For years, he was living his life and we were living ours and we were happy with it that way. I was scrupulous about never mentioning his identity for Deborah's sake and for the sake of his family.
Singing through grief
"He's missed out on an absolutely fantastic daughter," says Byrne. "He could have cherished her and he didn't even have to be with me. I hope he feels guilty.
"Deborah has only met her father once, when she was six and we bumped into him in the street. She couldn't understand why he was pretending he wasn't her father. But she's never wanted to get in touch with him."
Byrne devoted herself to Deborah, taking a succession of low-paid jobs to make ends meet.
During her own childhood, Byrne's mother would regularly pawn their belongings to raise cash for food. The 12-year-old Byrne quit school to help pay the family's bills and would sing at charity events and talent shows in her spare time, but nerves held her back. She auditioned for an early TV talent show, Opportunity Knocks, 22 years ago, but "they saw I wasn't ready for being on television — they were right. I stopped singing for a long time after that."
It wasn't until many years later, after both her parents had died and Byrne became depressed, that her brother Thomas convinced her to use singing to help get over the grief. The pair became a local hit as a karaoke duo, and when The X Factor auditions came to Dublin, she decided "it was now or never".
Just a year later she's recorded an album, Mine & Yours and is on The X Factor tour.
One track on the album, produced by Grammy-nominated Nigel Wright, is a cover of Shirley Bassey's This Is My Life.
"It represents how I made a mess of my life, but how I've have found another dream and don't give a damn about lost emotions now. I'm not the weak or needy woman I was," says Byrne, who has recently lost weight and embraced a fresher fashion style. "I've freed myself from the past."
It was an ironic choice for Byrne, who worked all hours on checkout No 40 at Tesco's Ballyfermot branch in Dublin, and had scrimped and saved all her life, bringing up her daughter Deborah, now 24, single-handed.
Now, though, Byrne is touring in the stage version of The X Factor show, she has a new album and she is reportedly in line to earn £1 million (Dh5.9 million) from lucrative advertising deals with Tesco and Marks & Spencer.
Not a bad result for a 51-year-old with arthritis in both knees and a deep-seated lack of self-confidence, who, in a few short weeks, rose to become the most unlikely star since Susan Boyle.
More important, says Byrne, is the fact that the heartache which held her back from singing for two decades is behind her. After years of pining for the man who abandoned her when she became pregnant with her daughter, Byrne says she is finally able to move on.
"Throughout my life, relationships have destroyed my confidence and stopped me from having the guts to get up and sing," she explains. "Now, for the first time in my life, I feel empowered."
Her most moving performance during The X Factor was her version of U2's All I Want Is You, which she dedicated to Deborah's father, saying: "All I ever wanted was him. He was the only real love of my life."
But despite her increasingly public profile, Byrne always refused to publicly name Deborah's father, who lived yards away from their home in Dublin.
However, three months ago a newspaper revealed him to be 47-year-old caterer and father of two Robbie Walsh, who still lives nearby. "All my feelings for him changed the moment his name became public," says Byrne. "For years, he was living his life and we were living ours and we were happy with it that way. I was scrupulous about never mentioning his identity for Deborah's sake and for the sake of his family.
Singing through grief
"He's missed out on an absolutely fantastic daughter," says Byrne. "He could have cherished her and he didn't even have to be with me. I hope he feels guilty.
"Deborah has only met her father once, when she was six and we bumped into him in the street. She couldn't understand why he was pretending he wasn't her father. But she's never wanted to get in touch with him."
Byrne devoted herself to Deborah, taking a succession of low-paid jobs to make ends meet.
During her own childhood, Byrne's mother would regularly pawn their belongings to raise cash for food. The 12-year-old Byrne quit school to help pay the family's bills and would sing at charity events and talent shows in her spare time, but nerves held her back. She auditioned for an early TV talent show, Opportunity Knocks, 22 years ago, but "they saw I wasn't ready for being on television — they were right. I stopped singing for a long time after that."
It wasn't until many years later, after both her parents had died and Byrne became depressed, that her brother Thomas convinced her to use singing to help get over the grief. The pair became a local hit as a karaoke duo, and when The X Factor auditions came to Dublin, she decided "it was now or never".
Just a year later she's recorded an album, Mine & Yours and is on The X Factor tour.
One track on the album, produced by Grammy-nominated Nigel Wright, is a cover of Shirley Bassey's This Is My Life.
"It represents how I made a mess of my life, but how I've have found another dream and don't give a damn about lost emotions now. I'm not the weak or needy woman I was," says Byrne, who has recently lost weight and embraced a fresher fashion style. "I've freed myself from the past."
