Stacey Solomon won the hearts of millions after competing in 2009's X Factor and being crowned queen of the jungle in this year's I'm a Celebrity...

STACEY SOLOMON, X Factor finalist and queen of the I’m A Celebrity jungle, is sitting upstairs at WH Smith’s in Chelmsford, signing copies of her new autobiography, Stacey: My Story So Far.

She’s looking demure in a cream blouse and beige skirt, her hair shorter, darker and straighter than before. I’m struck by her flawless complexion and expressive dark eyes, accentuated by strongly drawn eyebrows. She looks more sophisticated – more grown-up.

Her accent, of course, is as broadly Dagenham as ever, the giggle just as infectious and her words still tumble out in a breathless rush. But there’s also a depth and determination about her which belie her years. She’s only 21, but as her autobiography reveals, she’s experienced more than many people might in an entire lifetime.

In three whirlwind years, she has gone from a teenage single mother with postnatal depression to becoming the nation’s sweetheart with a promising musical and TV career. Rarely has a life been turned around so dramatically. Even her entry into the world was dramatic. Stacey and her mother nearly died because her mother’s placenta had torn away from the womb, causing severe internal bleeding. The chances of it happening, apparently, were a million to one.

She was born prematurely, weighing just 4.4lbs. Doctors warned she might be slow to develop and risked serious health problems and even brain damage, but instead, she shot up in height and became an intelligent and healthy young girl.

Stacey grew up in Dagenham, the second of three children. Her dad, a wedding photographer, is Jewish and her mum, the daughter of a Church of England vicar, converted to the faith when they married. The family of five lived in a small two-bedroom house and Stacey’s childhood was uneventful, until her parents divorced when she was nine. ‘To be honest, 50% of people I knew had parents who were divorced anyway,’ says Stacey. It was only afterwards I thought about it more, and started analysing it a bit.’ She became angry with her mother, whom she blamed for the split. ‘My mum divorced my dad, and we never knew why. To this day, she won’t tell me.’ She looks sad for a minute, but suddenly brightens. ‘My mission is to get my mum a boyfriend. I haven’t succeeded yet, but I’m working on it!’

Her dad moved to Hornchurch and remarried, starting a new family. Stacey started at Abbs Cross School in Hornchurch, an arts college strong on music and drama. It should have suited Stacey, who had dreamed of becoming a singer as far back as she can remember. Instead, she was nearly expelled for disruptive behaviour. She broke the rules, played truant and spent hours drinking alcohol in the park with her mates. She thinks it was partly because she knew her mother could not control her. ‘I had no boundaries. I was like, “Oh, who cares?” My dad wasn’t there, and my mum was a bit of a pushover.’

Bright but bored

Stacey was also bright and felt bored in lessons she found too easy. ‘I’m not bigheaded, but I knew everything. I learnt so quickly that I knew everything they were trying to teach me. So when they went over it again in class, I thought, “I know this. I’m going to pass my exams. I don’t need to be here”.’

But the school and her parents had had enough. There was talk of possible expulsion, so her dad took her out of school, there and then. She was bundled into a car and taken to her aunt’s home in Hackney. And there she stayed for four months until her parents could persuade another school to take her.

Stacey was accepted at a Jewish school, the King Solomon High in Ilford. She arrived two days before her SATs exams and still passed with flying colours.

Once at King Solomon, Stacey turned over a new leaf. ‘If people were getting good results, they were cool and popular,’ says Stacey. ‘If you did well, you were rewarded and challenged. I think it really changed me.’

She passed 13 GCSEs and began to study four A Levels in English, biology, maths and law, but she missed music, and decided to leave school to study musical theatre at Havering College. Her ambition was to study at RADA, but then, she fell pregnant. She and her then boyfriend had been careful, and she was devastated. ‘I just felt, “How did that happen? Why did that happen?” I was gutted, really gutted.’

She decided on an abortion, but changed her mind at the clinic when she learnt she was already four-and-a-half months pregnant. But she did not want a child and felt her dreams were shattered. She endured a long, difficult labour, crying hysterically after the birth. Exhausted and unable to bond with her baby boy, Zach, she returned home. Post-natal depression set in. She felt hopeless and helpless. ‘I didn’t want to talk to anyone. I just hated everybody. I didn’t want to be a mum. I just wanted to be a kid.’

Her mother suggested she went on a week’s holiday to Greece to recuperate. The trip not only helped her regain her spirits, but made her realise how much she missed her baby. From that moment on, Zach became the most important thing in her life.

Stacey had already been rejected twice by the X Factor by the time she applied in 2009. So why does she think it was third time lucky?

‘I think you have to show them how much you want it by turning up again and again. They need to see you’re strong enough to do the show. It’s a really hard show and I don’t think anyone’s ready at 16 to be thrust into something that intense. It’s hard to lose your private life at that age. And I also think that if you got in first time and got right to the top, you wouldn’t turn out to be a very nice person.’

She loved the show, drawing great strength from Dannii Minogue’s mentorship, although she says there were inevitably tensions in the X Factor house. ‘I think in those situations there’s always tension. The minute we left and went on tour, everyone was fine. But when you all want to be the best and at the top of your game, everyone is always a bit nervous and on guard.’

X Factor and Olly

She and fellow Essex contestant Olly Murs became inseparable during the competition. Stacey loved him as a friend, but when, during the X Factor tour, Olly saw her with her new (and current) boyfriend, Aaron. He stopped talking to her and for a long time they had no contact, but later they met by chance, and all the past difficulties were forgotten. They’re now best of friends again.

‘I get on with him really well now, thank God,’ says Stacey. ‘I love him.’ Stacey came third in the competition to Olly’s second. Joe McElderry won. Yet, given her popularity during the contest, many found it surprising she was not offered a recording contract afterwards. She says she has no idea why her career failed to take off. Was she disappointed? ‘I think I was at first. Then I grew up and realised what it’s all about so no, not at all.’

Then last year, she was offered the chance to take part in I’m A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here. She jumped at it. From the start, her cheerful, positive attitude made her by far the most popular contestant, gaining over 80% of the final vote.

Since becoming queen of the jungle, Stacey’s career has taken off in a big way. She has signed with Max Clifford Associates, become a presenter on ITV1’s Sing If You Can, sung the national anthem at this year’s FA Cup final and is the new face of the Iceland food store. She’s also working on a debut album.

She felt her performances on the X Factor did not truly reflect her musical personality, and is now writing songs, as well as reworking covers to reflect her own style. ‘I’m not power-ballady and I’m not poppy,’ she says firmly. ‘The album will be really calm, sweet music.’

She, Zach and her painter/decorator boyfriend Aaron now live in her house in Grays, which she bought earlier this year. She has no desire to move far from Dagenham. ‘I’ve got friends here. I can’t move away and live somewhere where my friends can’t even afford to buy a pint. What’s the point in that? I love my family and friends, so I’ll just stay right here, where everything is good around me.’