Monday, 18 August 2008

SEE VIDEO The X Factor's Rachel Hylton is ex-junkie mum-of-five

Former cocaine addict wows the show's judges

Rachel Hylton attacked a woman on the street when she was a drug addict

Rachel Hylton impressed The X Factor judges on Saturday night, despite admitting she’s a former jailbird who started having kids at 13.

The feisty singer ran away from home when she was just 12 and ended up getting pregnant soon after.

She also became a cocaine addict and was jailed for burglary in 2000.

At 26, Rachel is already has five kids - all by different dads. Her first three children have been taken into care.

‘She is sorry for the attack and the burglary,’ a source tells the Daily Mirror. ‘She knows she can't turn back the clock and erase the hurt.

'But she is a totally different person. The old Rachel has gone forever.’

Rachel won praise from Simon Cowell, 48, for her version of Amy Winehouse's You Know I'm No Good.

Meanwhile, over 10million tuned into the first episode of The X Factor on Saturday.

SEE VIDEO Rachel Hylton auditioning on The X Factor...