X Factor's jail house rocker Faye so captivating

Burlesque X Factor hopeful Faye Bray – who caught the eye of Simon Cowell with her revealing outfit – was always destined for the stage, says her proud father-in-law.

The 28-year-old blonde from Cannock, who is a teacher at Brinsford Young Offenders Institution, Featherstone, near Wolverhampton stunned the panel at the Birmingham auditions with her saucy outfit and then surprised them with her voice, honed as a member of Willenhall Operatic Society.

Millions of viewers saw the mother-of-three get a unanimous yes from Simon Cowell, Louis Walsh, Cheryl Cole and Dannii Minogue on Saturday, performing Tina Turner's River Deep Mountain High. She revealed it was an ambition to be followed by the paparazzi and wanted to appear on the cover of Heat magazine.

She told the judges of her plans: "Once I'm famous I want to adopt two donkeys and save all the starving children in the world."

Simon Cowell told her she looked "cute" as she arrived on stage but was stunned when she confessed to teaching at the Young Offenders Institution.

Cowell told her she had developed bad habits such as singing through her nose but that she was interesting and people would like her, while Dannii Minogue described her as a bundle of surprises.

Father-in-law Terry Bray, aged 71, from Willenhall, who was in the audience when the show was recorded a few months ago, said: "I thought her performance was brilliant but she has had plenty of experience.

"She has been singing since the age of six and had done a lot locally in pubs and in amateur dramatics. It has always been something she has loved.

"The outfit was part of the act and I suppose the judges expect that. I think the inmates she teaches will have liked it. She'll find out what her bosses thought when she gets back this week."