X Factor contestant Louisa Johnson has said she tries not to take being the current favourite to win this year’s show too seriously.

The 17-year-old is at the top of the bookies’ list to pick up the ITV singing show crown this year, after wowing the judges and viewers with her vocal performances, and she has so far managed to avoid the dreaded sing-off.

But the Essex lass is trying not to let the odds create more pressure for her on the show.

She told OK! magazine: “It’s amazing, but I just don’t think about it.

“Thinking I’m the favourite isn’t going to get me anywhere. Che [Chesterman, her fellow contestant] and I have a little banter over it, he calls me ‘favourite’.”

The teenager said being away from home while taking part in the contest was tough at times.

Louisa Johnson
(Syco/Thames TV)

She admitted: “I do cry about missing my mum.

“If I get a bit down then we chat and it really helps.”

Louisa also revealed she had suffered with confidence issues in the past about the way she looked, and had struggled with her weight, dropping to just seven stone last year after enrolling on a business studies course at college.

She told the magazine: “I wanted to change everything about the way I looked last year.

“I’ve got to the stage where I’m happier, I look in the mirror and don’t care. Now I’m happy being me.”

Read the full story in this week’s OK! magazine or check out the latest interviews from the magazine here.