MOST readers will know by now that Downley’s Leigh-Anne Pinnock was victorious in the X Factor – but believe it or not, my family also have history of winning TV talent shows.

My late uncle was a showbiz agent and one of his acts won a heat of New Faces, probably in the 1970s. I remember it well, seeing Uncle Louis in the front seat watching as his singing star stormed to victory – although I don’t recall her name because she didn’t win the final and didn’t end up famous.

Then my very own little brother was part of a show choir that won Opportunity Knocks in the late 1980s, when Bob Monkhouse was the presenter. Again, they didn’t win the final so there was no further glory.

So I can only begin to imagine the delight of Leigh-Anne’s family at her amazing feat in the X Factor after her group Little Mix won the entire contest.

Naturally, some anti-TV snobs may sneer at the show’s format and at stars and groups manufactured by reality shows. However, Little Mix’s win on Sunday was nothing short of an amazing, uplifting achievement.

Leigh-Anne was serving pizzas in a High Wycombe restaurant a few months ago, but has come from nowhere to earn her place as a nationally-recognised star. And she may even have the Christmas number one.

Whatever you may think of the show, there is no doubt the winners will have earned their success and subsequent fame and riches after living for months in a goldfish bowl in the public spotlight.

Their glory should be an uplifting, inspiring story for every youngster. For here we have a normal 20-year-old former pupil of Sir William Ramsay School in Hazlemere who has suddenly been catapulted to fame thanks to a bit of luck, determination and talent.

It shows just what can be achieved if you dare to try to live the dream. Of course, not everyone will be as spectacularly successful as Leigh-Anne but her victory should prove to everyone that nothing is impossible in life.

And I hope all of High Wycombe and Bucks will take pride in our girl and give her the big homecoming party she deserves – she should be given the freedom of the town.

I know some cynics will scoff at that suggestion and say it’s only a TV show; she hasn’t won the Olympics or invented penicillin.

But what she has done in my book is give hope and inspiration to a generation that badly needs it in these gloomy days of austerity.

She had the guts and get-up-and-go to take a chance at being put down and humiliated on a national television show.

How many of us have shirked at similar challenges in life and have been beaten before we start?

Whether it’s a job interview, a GCSE exam, a driving test, a hot date or a TV talent show, every young person out there has to constantly strive to prove they have the X Factor.

Leigh-Anne did it – and so can all of you.