SEEING her son fulfil his dream by singing live on The X Factor is especially poignant for Jennifer Cardle.

The mother of The X Factor favourite Matt Cardle has revealed that life almost took a very different turn for the family.

“Matt was just two when he was diagnosed with kidney cancer,” she said, speaking from the family home in School Road, Little Maplestead, near Halstead.

Matt underwent chemotherapy during what can only be described as a traumatic time for the family and lost his hair, but his fighting spirit shone through even at that tender age and he beat the illness.

“It is extremely emotional seeing him perform on TV,” confessed his proud mother.

“I guess it is the same for any parent. He has achieved what he wanted to do. He always wanted to have a wide audience and he has got probably the widest audience he could ever have hoped for.”

Mrs Cardle admits she is missing her son, who is so caught up in the ITV show that he rarely gets time to speak to his family.

“We don’t get to speak to him as often as I’d imagined because he is so incredibly busy.

“Every time we start a conversation he has to rush off.”

Meanwhile, Matt, 27, has told the EADT he is battling with nerves ahead of the third live show and that he has not been happy with his performances so far.

“To be fair I think I could have sang a lot better, but it’s been really hard to shake off the nerves. I want to be able to go out there and show people what I can really do,” he said.

Although he was not allowed to reveal what song he is singing tonight, Matt said we could expect something “dark and moody”.

“The first songs I did were quite upbeat and positive,” he said. “This time I’m taking it down a notch.

“When I first heard what song I was going to be singing I really wasn’t sold on the idea, but I’ve been working on it throughout the week and I’ve been able to add a few things which are my own so I’m a lot happier.”

Matt believes that his main rivals in the competition are Rebecca Ferguson, who he described as “absolutely amazing”, as well as One Direction and Aiden Grimshaw.

All of The X Factor contestants have found themselves in the public spotlight, but Matt said he has kept away from the internet while he has been on the show.

“From what I hear I’m getting great support which is fantastic, but I don’t go home and read what people are saying about me on the internet,” he said.

“I just want to concentrate on what I’m doing.”

The show is live on ITV1 at 7.45pm.