When I spoke to Jake Quickenden – X Factor finalist and almost winner of I’m a Celebrity – he was on the phone shopping with his girlfriend, who kept, he said, pointing things out to him she wanted to buy or perhaps him to buy for her.

Still it didn’t distract this down-to- earth soon-to-be 27-year-old from his casual patter, talking about how he is just an ordinary bloke, a bit of a “drongo” (Scunthorpe’s version of the southern “doughnut” apparently), who is no different from how he was when he worked in McDonald’s, apart from the fact more people now know who he is.

He just likes gigging, he says, and is looking forward to starting his new tour, where he’ll be airing tracks from his forthcoming CD.

“It’s a bit different to what I’ve done before, you know, with the guitar, that singer-songwriter thing,” he says. “It’s more produced, more clubby and upbeat. I really like it and can’t wait for people to hear it.”

The lucky people of south Essex will be able to do so, when he headlines at the Southend Maritime Festival, which takes place on Saturday, June 6, and Sunday, June 7, scattered across different spots in Southend.

Jake will be singing his heart out at 3pm on the at the main stage on Jubilee Beach and then meeting fans at Adventure Island from 4pm.

Despite starting his career out as a professional footballer, Jake knew his love of music would win round in the end.

“I was a bit of a drongo at school, wasn’t really good at enough, apart from PE and I was alright at English. I couldn’t spell, but I liked writing,” he says. “After my dad passed away, my mum bought me a guitar for Christmas. I started to play it and sing, and it seemed to turn out alright.

“Although I ended up becoming a footballer, I knew I would never be a great standard, but really wanted to give the music a try.”

Jake honed his craft playing on the local music scene.

“People think that you appear on X Factor and that’s it, it’s all begun from there, but it didn’t.

“About five years before that, from about the age of 21, I was playing around all the pubs, some of them not very nice places, for £20 or a free beer. I did work really hard and I was lucky to get a break on X Factor.”

Soon after, he appeared on the 14th show of I’m a Celebrity, and was crowned runner-up.

“It did worry me beforehand, because I didn’t and don’t class myself as a celebrity, so I was quite nervous, especially knowing I was going to be surrounded by all these famous people,” he said. “But my mum said the best thing I could do is just go in there and think of it as if I’m with a bunch of mates. And that’s what I did. I was just myself, so it didn’t take long to settle in.

“You can’t hide there, you just have to be yourself, and if that’s not enough, then so be it. With the cameras going 24-7, you just have to kind of deal with it.

“I think being on X Factor, people didn’t really know me that well, because there is not a lot you can show about your personality when you’re on stage singing. But Celebrity allowed me to show the real me. Plus I got to test myself doing all these mad things, like eating pigs’ balls. I mean, I wouldn’t ordinarily eat pigs’ balls.

“I 100 per cent mean it when I say I’m just me. I know what it’s like to work hard, working in McDonald’s, being a bricklayer...

“Just because I’ve done a couple of TV programmes doesn’t make me any better than someone who works in McDonald’s, it just means more people know who I am.”

Jake’s debut UK tour, Laid Bare, runs through July and spans 11 dates across the country, and will feature him singing a collection of original tracks, as well as a handful of covers.

He said: “The tour will showcase who I am as an artist.

There was a lot of speculation around what I was going to do after coming second to Carl Foggety on I’m a Celebrity, but I was never going to neglect my first love – music.

“I am so excited to reveal what I have worked so hard on over the past year and I cannot wait to share my next chapter with those who continue to stand by me.”

  • The Echo is the media partner for Southend Maritime Festival which takes place on Saturday and Sunday June 6 and 7. Click here for the official Southend Maritime Festival website