Jamie Pugh’s friends have revealed that the former RAF engineer was “a broken man” 10 years ago when his wife Tracey died – leaving Jamie to bring up son, three year old Callum, alone.

The friend added: “It’s still tough for Jamie. He didn’t want to break down talking about Tracey on air.”

Jamie told his friends that he didn’t reveal his private heart ache because he didn’t want the “sympathy vote”.

However, now Jamie has a new love in his life, Donna Davies, 35 years old, who supported him through his audition for Britain’s Got Talent. And the two have a son together – Ethan, three. Jamie credits Donna with helping him beat the stage fright which has prevented him from reaching his potential in the past.

It has been revealed that Jamie failed the first round of auditions last year when he couldn’t even speak his name. But Donna put his name forward again and accompanied him to the auditions.

Jamie said: “Donna was the reason I had the courage to go for it. I am petrified of singing in public – my hands shake and I completely clam up. I thought the audience at the audition were going to throw tomatoes at me, so I was amazed with the response.”

Last night’s performance from Jamie was stunning and he is now truly in a position to challenge the supremacy of Susan Boyle. He said: “I want to try singing. I need to find out who I am and if I can do this for real.”