PEMBROKESHIRE'S X Factor favourite Jay James Picton is looking forward to a bright future after his shock exit from the contest on Sunday night.

Finding himself in the bottom two for the second week running, 31-year-old Jay lined up for a sing-off against competition wildcard Stevi Ritchie.

After judging went to deadlock, it was down to the public vote and - to the horror of his fans - Jay was eliminated.

But he feels ‘really positive’ from his experience, he told the Western Telegraph on Monday.

“Naturally, I was gutted at first, but I really appreciate the opportunity of being part of The X Factor,” he said. “Earlier this year, I was sitting at home in Saundersfoot thinking what was going to happen to me.

“Now I’ve signed to James Grant Management, who are an incredible team who look after people like The Script and Ant and Dec, and it’s down to me to create opportunitIes from this platform and work really hard.”

Now he is looking forward to being reunited with wife Victoria, little daughter Nova and friends in the village, including Phil Odley, the chairman of Saundersfoot Chamber for Tourism.

Said Phil: “Piccy has done Saundersfoot, Pembrokeshire and Wales proud. I think this is only the beginning for him, and we are all looking forward to sharing in his success.”

Jay performed New York, New York on Saturday’s Big Band Show, wearing a suit which belonged to his late granddad, Viv Walters of Saundersfoot.

And he found that there was plenty of Pembrokeshire company alongside him on stage . His backing dancer, gyrating in a huge glitter-filled cocktail glass, was 27-year-old Victoria Tansey from Hakin.

Now a professional dancer and circus skills artist based in London, Victoria - who is dating young singer songwriter Conor Maynard - raised a few eyebrows when her gold costume briefly revealed more than she intended.

She was asked to dance on the show by its choreographer, Brian Friedman, who spotted her in a solo cabaret performance.

“He is a dancing god, so this was an amazing experience,” said Victoria. “I never thought I would even ever meet him, let alone work for him.”

Two sisters from Newport, Pembrokeshire performed on cellos in the 30-piece Big Band backing the singers. Nerys Richards, aged 35 and Llinos Mai Richards, aged 33, are both freelance musicians based in London and the daughters of Nigel and Glenys Richards of Richards Bros bus and coach company.