Who would have known that the little lad looking so smart in his Putteridge Primary School uniform would grow up to be part of heartthrob boyband Union J, about to take centre stage in the X Factor semi-finals?
Jaymi Hensley, 22, pictured with brother Aaron Hensley, now 17, grew up in Stopsley, and in the past few months his life has become a whirlwind of TV appearances, screaming fans and serenading swooning audiences across the country.
Proud mum Jackie Hensley is ecstatic at Jaymi’s success, and will be rooting for him as he sings with bandmates George Shelley, JJ Hamblett and Josh Cuthbert on Saturday night.
Jackie said: “It’s amazing Union J have got this far. We never, ever, imagined they would. They weren’t even together a few months ago, it’s just crazy. They’ve already won their own battle of the boybands by being the last group in the competition – every week since then is a bonus.”
Union J formed a few months before the X Factor auditions this summer, and added George to the group during the show. They were in the bottom two of the show last week but won the ‘sing-off’ against soloist Rylan Clark.
Jackie said: “I’ve never heard Jaymi sing like that before. It gave me goosebumps.”
Sensational singer Jaymi has been performing from a young age, as part of local amateur dramatics group the Phoenix Players, and at his schools Putteridge High School, Brit School and Sylvia Young Theatre School.
Union J have already built an impressive fan base during their time on the ITV show, and have over 600,000 followers on Twitter.
Jackie has also signed up to Twitter to talk to fans, who are known as ‘JCats’.
Jackie said: “The fans are completely mad, I love them. Some people still don’t realise Jaymi is from Luton.
“I’d love for everyone from the town to support him and vote for Union J at the weekend so they can win a place in the final. I’m so proud of him.”