IN THE corner of her manager's office, hiding underneath a giant floppy hat, sits Rebecca Ferguson.

She looks like a singer, but one that would have graced the stage of a smoky jazz club in the 1950s, rather than someone who appeared on a prime-time TV talent show.

Underneath the big brim, however, is a rather normal girl; a mum of two who enjoys a rare night out with friends over the weekend.

"Hiya," she says in broad Scouse, leaping up to say hello.

Ferguson says she's coming out of the busiest week she's ever had; 3am alarm calls, 11pm bedtimes, and non-stop talking, promotion and travelling in between.

Fortunately for her, time spent dreaming of being a singer since she was seven has stood her in good stead for the reality of being a popstar.

"I always knew what it was going to be like," she says. "I don't know how, maybe it was things I read or saw, but I've always known it was going to be hard work," says the 25-year-old.

Ferguson, who appears at Plymouth Pavilions on Thursday, March 15, finished second on 2010's X Factor, runner-up to Matt Cardle but has been enjoying a good Press.

Her debut album had been positive reviews in the broadsheets – one gave debut Heaven five stars – and a general feeling that Ferguson could go on to become one of the most popular former contestants in the show's history.

"The feedback has been amazing, and the album's been getting praise from people I really didn't expect to like it," she explains.

While Ferguson was in X Factor, she was constantly told by the judging panel that she had the voice of a ready-made recording artist and, thanks to her renditions of Anthony Newley's Feeling Good, Sam Cooke's A Change Is Gonna Come and jazz standard Why Don't You Do Right?, that she should concentrate on retro soul.

Her album doesn't stray too far from that formula, and given the popularity of Adele this year, it's certainly very current. When she first appeared on X Factor and stunned the judges, it wasn't the first time she'd auditioned on the show.

There were failed attempts in 2005 and 2006, a rejection from Britain's Got Talent in 2009 and, most painful of all, she was turned away from P Diddy's Starmaker in 2007, which her family had clubbed together to fund.

"I didn't just dream of becoming a singer," she points out. "I was really active in trying to make it happen. When I was 14, I got a job to be able to afford my singing lessons, and I was constantly looking for other things."

With two children, now aged five and seven, it's perhaps easier that Ferguson's career takes off now.

She doesn't regret telling journalists about her own childhood.

"My childhood was hard, and I was in foster homes, but it's no different from what thousands of kids are going through today. And me talking about it might help someone.

"A child in foster care could see me and think 'She's doing OK, maybe there is hope?' and that's great.

"There are positives and negatives, and I'm learning fast. I'm still Becky from Liverpool, but this is what I always wanted, and now I'm doing it."

There are tickets available. To book go to www.plymouthpavilions.com or call 0845 146 1460.