BEXLEY X Factor finalist Sam Bailey has said her life has already been changed by the hit talent show, even if she does not win this weekend's showdown.

The 36-year-old former Cleeve Park and Bexley Performing Arts School student will take on soloists Luke Friend and Nicholas McDonald in the ITV competition and is hotly tipped to win.

She has continued to wow audiences since leaving celebrity judges Gary Barlow, Nicole Scherzinger, Sharon Osbourne and Louis Walsh open-mouthed after belting out Beyonce's Listen in her first audition.

Speaking as she was greeted by hundreds of roaring fans before a gig in Leicester, her adopted hometown, she said: "It's already changed my life, it's already changed. Everything's changed."

She said she was "really, really excited" about getting on stage at the weekend and taking on the two boys in the final had left no bad blood between them.

"I love them, I love them to death," she said.

"We're just literally going to be in that final together, having the best time of our lives.

"I love them, they're my boys. So we're going to have some fun."

She will be singing And I'm Telling You by Jennifer Holliday with none other than judge Nicole Scherzinger, whose final act, Gravesend’s Tamera Foster, was knocked out a couple of weeks ago.

"It's going to be a massive song, I can't wait," Sam said.

The mum-of-two said she was gobsmacked at the amount of people who had supported her since she entered the X Factor, and was amazed at seeing the amount of fans who had turned out to see her.

"It's just amazing," she said.

"I can't believe that people are out to support me. I never expected it to be this big, I really didn't."

The X Factor final airs in two parts and will be broadcast live from Wembley Arena. The first live show airs at 8pm on Saturday on ITV1, while the second show, which sees the contestant with the most votes crowned the winner, will air the following day at 7.30pm on ITV1.

Special guests confirmed for the final include Sir Elton John, The Killers, Katy Perry and Tom Odell.

The winner's single will be released shortly after the final, with profits being split between Great Ormond Street Hospital and children's charity Together for Short Lives.