Jamie overcame crippling stage fright to sing “Bring Him Home” from Les Miserables on Britain’s Got Talent. Before he sang, he told Simon Cowell that he’d never sung in front of a large audience.  However, a video emerged of Jamie’s appearance in a 2006 West End talent show as part of a group which sang a medley of Rod Stewart songs.

Jamie told Wales on Sunday how the accusation battered his fragile confidence and it was only the support of his girlfriend Donna that prevented him quitting the shoe.

Jamie said: “If I didn’t have Donna, I would have quit. She’s my everything. That story in the paper really hurt. I bring my children up to be honest and it was blazed across that I was a liar.

“I’ve never hidden the fact I was on that show. What people have to understand is I wasn’t on my own. I’ve never walked onto a stage on my own.”

“My life is a struggle but I have everybody I want close to me. I’m the man I’ve always wanted to be. Every morning I wake up wanting to be a good man, good partner and good worker. I’m confident in everything else apart from my singing. It’s one of the few things that cripples me because I’m giving you everything I’ve got. It’s personal for me. With singing, it’s the one time I can give you everything I’ve got. When I sing I feel it.”

Jamie’s partner of the last seven years, Donna, said that Jamie had reacted badly to the criticism.

She revealed: “He takes all this to heart. Last week was atrocious, heartbreaking. We thought about locking the door and not letting anybody in but you can’t do that.

“It was a personal attack on him and he thought everybody hated him.

“I told him that no matter what happens, he’s still going to be my partner, he’s still going to be a dad and work starts tomorrow. It would have consumed him and made him feel so low.

“It could have got to the point where he wouldn’t have been able to get back up again. To sing he has to feel it and he wouldn’t be able to do that if he was depressed and not worth anything.”

Jamie said that he has been coping with the pressures by staying close to his family and friends whilst preparing for the next stage of the competition on  May 23.

Jamie should take some comfort from the results of the poll on this website. In answer to the question:

Do you forgive Jamie his so-called fib?

42% of you replied that there was nothing to forgive, he didn’t fib. A further 40% said that yes, they forgave him, making a total of 82% of respondents who were still supporting him, including me!

So Jamie, we all wish you loads of luck for May 23rd!

Age: 38

Place of residence: Pengam, near Blackwood, Wales

Family: Wife Tracey sadly died ten years ago from a brain tumour aged just 27. They had a son together, Callum, who is now 13.

Partner: Now living with Donna Davies, 35.  Donna and Jamie have a three year old son together, called Ethan.

Donna works as a support officer for an Ystrad Mynach special school.