Looks like Marcus Collins has won the royal seal of approval for tonight’s X Factor final. The last man standing in the competition is said to have heavily impressed the likes of Prince William and Kate Middleton – so much so that the royal couple will be lending their support to Gary’s leading man.
The Liverpool lad, who made a very special guest appearance at Gary’s solo charity gig earlier this week, revealed, “Kate said she was amazed at how much stronger my vocals were live than on television. I just can’t believe it.”
But despite his new fan club, lovely Marcus is remaining as humble as ever, saying that singing with his well-respected mentor will be the most ‘nerve-wracking’ part of the night for him.
Chatting about his experience of having the handsome Take That front-man as a judge, Marcus revealed, “Singing with my mentor Gary Barlow is the most nerve-wracking thing about the final for me. But he makes me chilled and relaxed when I’m on stage with him so I know it’s all going to be fine.”
And it will all be fine – because we all know Marcus has an amazing voice. But will these nerves get the better of him?
Thankfully, it doesn't look like it. “I do feel nervous on my own, but it gets the adrenaline going so gets me through. It doesn’t bother me that I’m the only guy left in the competition. I’m usually the only boy in my circle of friends so it doesn’t make any difference to me.”
But despite the last minute pressures that lie ahead Marcus says he owes everything to Gazza B for getting him so far. And when it comes to singing tonight, he knows his mentor has got his back.
“When I’m on stage and I know Gary is there, I’m calm and don’t freak out. I know he’s got my back if I mess up. He gets a few lines in our duet but there’s no way I’m going to upstage him,” he smiled.
Well, we reckon tonight is going to be one serious battle and we’d love to see Marcus and his lovely smile nail his performances - especially his duet with Gary, which is confirmed to be Always A Woman by Billy Joel.
But since you’ve been telling us what you all think of Little Mix and Amelia Lily this morning, why not have a good old fashioned discussion about li’l Marcus too? Speak your minds, heatworlders… does Marcus deserve to win?
The X Factor airs tonight on ITV1 at 8pm and tomorrow night at 7.30pm. We'll be tweeting along here and putting up lots of insider gossip here so make sure you join us later for a final weekend of X Factor fun!