IT'S a nail biting time for Matt Linnen fans who have been glued to their TV screens following the progress of the gravel-voiced favourite.

The emerging star has been working his way through the brutal auditions of TV mega hit talent show X Factor.

Last Sunday viewers saw him perform his way through the nerve wracking Six Chair Challenge heat. The next stage, set to be aired this weekend, will see him being whisked off to South Africa to the house of Pussy Cat Doll lead singer, judge and mentor Nicole Scherzinger.

Matt, 28, whose day job is a plasterer, has been honing his craft playing anywhere and everywhere on the music scene in and around Southend, since no more than a kid.

"I've played in bands since I was 16, just as the singer at first" he says, "but then when I went solo I had to learn to play the guitar because I didn't always have people to play with... no friends" he laughs.

If you're one of the few locals who haven't seen him play in his hometown of Southend, he's always been on the side of the rock 'n' roll, edgy, hard knock, late night gig scene - a cool customer and perhaps not quite someone who you'd expect to go in for a polished, uber mainstream show such as the X Factor.

I put this to Matt when I chatted to him on Tuesday.

"I think that after having a chat with a couple of mates, I made the decision to just do it and audition" said Matt. "I think the music industry is changing, and I think I've been a bit snobby about shows like X Factor in he past. I think there is a small community within the music scene who is snobby about it, but not the larger part of the general public. And I said to myself, you know, I can still do this and be me. I can do this show and be true to myself.

"I'm glad I didn't do it before because I feel maybe the time wouldn't have been right then, but I do feel the time is right for me now."

For his first audition which was televised at the start of the show, he sang Ray LaMontagne's Trouble in front of the panel of judges, Louis Walsh, Nicole Scherzinger, Sharon Osbourne and of course, Simon Cowell.

"I didn't think I would be, but I was quite nervous" Matt admitted. "I've never been under the microscope on that scale. You walk into the room, and it's quite daunting. I didn't know what they expected and to see them, actually be in front of their faces looking at you... and the cameras... I've never had cameras in my face like that... it was all quite daunting and to be honest, all a bit of a blur looking back.

"I was more nervous about chatting to them than singing to them, about what they were going to ask me."

Matt explained the feedback given by the judges amounted to a lot more than what viewers saw televised. It was their advice which led him to make the decision to choose a song a little outside of the box in the next round. That took place at Wembley Arena where he wowed the crowd and won the judges over with Beyonce's hit If I Were A Boy.

"I wanted to choose a song that wasn't so obvious" he explained. "You saw how Nicole said to me she didn't feel I connected with the judges during the first audition. Well, she was right as I didn't feel I connected with them. It was hard - much harder to connect with and sing to those four faces in that room than it is to a gig full of people.

"The next audition at Wembley in front of 5,000 people was actually easier."

Following the Six Chair Challenge audition, the contestants who now have Nicole as their mentor - Berget Lewis, Kevin Davy White, Slavko, Talia Dean, Tracyleanne Jefford and of course Matt Linnen - were taken aside for more words of advice.

"Nicole had a big group chat with us," said Matt. "It was a pep talk really, and she told us what we needed to do. I think it's great that I have her as a mentor. She is the only one of the judges who actually goes on stage and performs herself, so she really does know where we're coming from. Also, she has been through the process herself by being in a similar contest when she was younger, so she gets it. She really does care about the contestants. I think she doesn't like to get too close in the early stages as it makes it harder for her when she has to let people go."

Matt, said after getting through to the next round he was excited about going to South Africa, as he had never been out of Europe before, and also excited to find out who the guest judge would be at Nicole's house.

"I've just got to give it everything I can because I think it's going to get tougher and tougher" he said.

Before wrapping up the conversation, Matt added a few words for his Southend fans: "Ah... honestly, the love I have felt from Southend has been amazing, it feels good" he said. "I have played anywhere and everywhere for years in Southend so I hope local people watching the show are linking the dots and remembering if they have seen me."

Yes Matt. I think they probably do remember you.

X Factor is on this Saturday at 8:20pm and Sunday at 7pm on ITV.