Faryl Smith has said that she never would have landed her current record deal without the help of Simon Cowell.

Faryl rose to fame on last years Britain’s Got Talent and wowed viewers with her rendition of ‘Ave Maria’. She has since landed a huge record deal and hopes to follow in the footsteps of Katherine Jenkins, the award-winning Welsh mezzo-soprano.

“My family is really, really friendly with Simon,” she told The Sun.

“He has done so much for me, he basically discovered me. I always want to say thank you and made sure I did on my album.

“He did loads for me and he helped my mum through a lot because she was worried I was too young.

“He wasn’t that sort of person who just said, ‘It doesn’t matter, she’ll be fine’. He really, really helped and they met up face-to-face. He’s not a softie but he is lovely to me.”