Walking in the shadow of somebody else is never easy, but when that shadow is a muti-platinum selling, award winning, childhood friend, who is a previous winner of the competition you’re entering… then you know the pressure is on.

But that is exactly the situation Duane Lamonte has found himself in, as he tries to emulate the footsteps of his lifelong friend, and X Factor queen, Leona Lewis.

“I’m feeling bubbly and good,” smiles the 23-year old Londoner after his successful audition. “It went really well, better than I expected, and the comments I got were great.

“Simon seemed pretty impressed and Cheryl said I blew her away, so I’m well happy with how it all turned out.”

Duane explains how his family and Leona’s are very close having “grown up together”, and how watching his old playmate win The X Factor has spurred him on to achieve a similar success.

“When I saw Leona win the show I thought to myself: I wanna piece of that!”

Duane is really looking forward to bootcamp having progressed to that stage of the Pop Idol series:

“I auditioned for Pop Idol the year Will Young won and I got as far as bootcamp, but I had to leave the competition as I got a job in America doing musicals. So I’m really pleased to be getting another shot at it now.”

Leona sure is a tough act to follow, but if you’re aiming for the stars, you may as well reach for the highest.

Eyes bulged and ears pricked up this morning as news filtered through the rumour mill that Britney Spears will be appearing on The X Factor as a celebrity mentor!

Yes if the whispers in today’s papers are to be believed, the newly rejuvenated pop princess will be on our screens during the live show phase of the competition.

In an official statement an X Factor spokeswoman said: “We are in talks with many major artists but any reports on guest stars due to perform on The X Factor are completely unconfirmed at this stage.”

But the excitement of all this has got us thinking:

The X Factor has a long and successful history of attracting international superstars to appear on the show. Over the years we’ve had some huge names, including Kylie, Take That, and Celine Dion to name but a few.

But if you could choose anyone in the world to celebrity mentor our finalists, who would you pick?

Leave your suggestions below.