Romany girl Cher Lloyd has the X Factor

The 17-year-old comes from a Romany family and was 4 months old when she started living as a traveller with her parents, Diane and Darren. Her uncle told the Mirror that: “You never see a traveller doing well on TV, let alone become a pop star. All you hear about travellers is that they leave litter, go out robbing and start fights. From the age of two all she wanted to do was sing. Now she's just the same as any other teenager”.

Cher is proud of her Romany roots. It was reported that her family had lived the Romany lifestyle for generations and her maternal grandmother raised her children in “the age-old traditions”.

Cher’s family travelled around Wales, with the family getting by on odd jobs and the help of other family members. Cher’s uncle Jessy Smith told the Mirror that: “ The family had little and it was a hard and dangerous life.Cher knows where she’s from and accepts it. At times she's had to put up with kids calling her 'gypo' and 'pikey'.

This sort of success just doesn't happen to traveller families. It's been harder for Cher to get where she is because of her background”.

Cher impressed the judges last night with her performance of Stay by Shakespears Sister. Simon Cowell attributed the performance as the best by any contestant so far.