I'm missing my toddler son, says X Factor hopeful

X Factor hopeful Kerry McGregor has told of her agony at being separated from her toddler son as she bids for pop fame.

Wheelchair-bound Kerry has been forced to leave 17-month-old Joshua at home with his grandmother after landing a place in the final 12 of the reality show.

She is now sharing a house with her fellow contestants in London while Joshua stays hundreds of miles away in West Lothian, Scotland.

“It’s absolutely heart-wrenching,” admitted single mum Kerry, who was left paralysed after falling from a tree and breaking her back aged 13.

“I’ve left him with my mum and I’m desperately missing him, I want to see him so much.

“But I can’t give up this dream – as much for him as for me.

“Life is a raw deal. But at the end of the day the only restrictions you have are the ones you place on yourself.

“I can’t walk away from this a failure. It’s going to make me a stronger person. And if he can see his mum giving it her all it will show him that it’s possible to achieve something that seems impossible. He’s going to benefit from it.

“It’s so hard being away from him but it’s short-term suffering for a long-term goal.”

Kerry, 31, is being mentored by judge Sharon Osbourne in the over-25s group.

While she struggles to cope with missing her son, fellow contestant Robert Allen has fatherhood to look forward to.

His girlfriend Samia is due to give birth in December – just as the X Factor reaches its climax.

“The show could get an unexpected surprise – we’ll be singing and suddenly you’ll hear this baby wailing in the audience,” he joked.

Robert, 27, has spent the past 18 months working at the Homerton Hospital in east London, where his habit of entertaining the patients earned him the nickname “The Singing Porter”.

He said: “I always sing as I wheel them around and make them a cup of tea and all the patients have encouraged me to go for the X Factor.

“I liked the job because it involved helping other people.

“I don’t think I could put into words what winning the show would mean. I will have achieved my goals and dreams. But the first thing I’d buy is a house for my girlfriend and new baby when it’s born.”

This Saturday viewers will begin voting off the hopefuls.

Long-haired rocker Ben Mills and former model Ashley McKenzie are the early favourites to win.

Punters have been piling money on the pair to land the £100,000 record deal.

Judge Simon Cowell has likened Ben to a young Joe Cocker.

If he wins he will become the first rock act to triumph in the TV reality show

William Hill spokesman Rupert Adams said: “It is very early days but we have been very surprised by the massive early interest in Ben.”

The 26-year-old from Kent runs his own marquee company and he has performed in a Doors tribute band.

Ashley, 20, from Croydon, made it through to the finals despite Simon branding him “cocky and unreliable”.