She shoot to fame after she won the X Factor in 2006 but Leona Lewis has reviled that she had to take three years out of work to “get her head around things”.

Leona is the most successful singer to come out of the show selling the most records and this week the singer released her  third album, Glassheart.

Talking recently talked:

I’m a perfectionist, and I find it hard sticking to deadlines,’

Some people were starting to worry. They wanted the album out sooner rather than later, but Simon was cool. His attitude was: “It’s ready when it’s ready.” ’

‘The years between 2006 and 2009 were insane. I was touring the world, it was manic. But I’m not the type to have a starry meltdown. My background is too solid for that. I just needed to get my head together.

‘You can win The X Factor with just a great voice. And, at first, you can sustain yourself thanks to the momentum of the show.

‘But the real work starts after that. There comes a point when you have to prove yourself as an artist — not just as the product of a TV show.’

Lewis’es new album clearly shows how good her vocals are and how far the singer has come since 2006. Her new tune Trouble, written by Emeli Sande, is in the style of Bleeding  Love and so is some of the other records on the album.

‘I haven’t shunned the ballads — because I love them! I feel as if I’m starting again. I still get butterflies,’

‘People think I’m this vulnerable girl, but I’m not,’ she says. ‘I just like to conduct myself with dignity. I get that from my parents.

‘I was writing songs before I went on X Factor and I’ve always wanted success.’

A couple of weeks back the X Factor singer returned to the show to perform her single and we also saw her be a judge on the show when the auditions where going on.

She said:

‘The night before I was due to be a judge, I called my manager and told her I wanted to pull out,’
‘I was scared, as I didn’t want to reject any young singers.

‘But she told me I was the most qualified of all the judges, and the best placed to give advice. And that’s true. I’ve been through it all before and I really enjoyed it.

‘I’d go back on, but it would have to be a year when I wasn’t promoting an album.’

Leona grew up with her Mum Maria, Dad Joe and her two brothers on  a housing estate in Hackney,  East London:

‘I’ve learnt a lot from them. My dad is a level-headed realist, and he’s never taken in by the hype. My mum is different — she’s a dreamer. She believes you  can do anything you set your mind to, and that attitude has rubbed off on me.’