Considered to be Ireland's answer to Susan Boyle, Mary Byrne became an inspiration to older women when she made it through to the semi-final of The X Factor. As she prepares for the release of her debut album Mine & Yours on Monday, March 28, she talks about her experience on the hit TV show, getting mobbed in her hometown of Dublin and being on anti-depressants.
By Shereen Low.
Mary Byrne is feeling rather cheerful today.
As she takes time out from the intense X Factor Live tour, travelling around the country with this year's winner Matt Cardle and fellow finalists Rebecca Ferguson and One Direction, her voice doesn't belie any signs of fatigue.
"Helloooo darling, I'm fine. I'm just chilling out after our Nottingham gig," she bellows down the phone.
"It's intense, but the X Factor was even more intense. We're used to it by now. Everywhere we go, we're getting a great reception."
From the moment she stepped onto the X Factor audition stage in Dublin, the former Tesco worker, known as the Ballyfermot belter, captivated viewers with her big voice and big heart. It won her the title of Ireland's Susan Boyle, who has taken the world by storm after her appearance on Britain's Got Talent.
"I don't sing like SuBo because she has a much more gentle and pretty voice. Mine is like 'pleh'," Byrne says, making a blasting noise.
"But if I could do half as well as SuBo, I'd be a very happy woman. We've all got our mad quirks, but she's a great talent."
Byrne, 51, can thank her mentor Louis Walsh for her change in circumstances. It's unbelievable to see the stage-shy supermarket cashier perform in front of huge crowds, after making the Irish judge's final pick.
"It hasn't sunk in. Every morning, I often say to myself, 'This time last year, I was working at Tesco'. And now I'm singing for a living, which is absolutely a dream come true," she says in her soft Irish brogue.
Her new-found fame has brought recognition: "I can't go into Dublin because I'll get mobbed. People just want to talk to me and take photographs. Everyone congratulates me. It's unbelievable. It's a lovely feeling and beyond what I could ever dream," she continues.
Byrne, a single mother to 23-year-old daughter Debbie, gave up singing in her late 20s because of low self-esteem, but when she hit the menopause, decided to take the plunge and audition for The X Factor.
"All my life, since I was a child, I loved singing. I gave up a long time ago, because I hadn't the confidence. Every time the nerves got the better of me, I let them and didn't try to fight them," she recalls.
"For some reason, when I started the change of life, I became more confident. I always said that if The X Factor ever came to Dublin, I would go for it, but I never dreamed it would," she adds, chuckling.
Her niece Elaine posted an application form for her, which soon led to a call-back.
"She told me I couldn't let them down, so I went along with it. It was like being on a conveyor belt - I was being pushed along and I didn't want to stop it," Byrne admits.
The rest, as they say, is history. She made it through to Bootcamp, before the live shows, where she narrowly missed out on a place in the final four.
"I didn't think I would get through the judges. If the judges had said I wasn't ready for the show, I would have walked away happy," she adds.
Byrne, who left the competition after a controversial sing-off with Cher Lloyd, never expected to win.
"It's a young person's programme. It's for kids who want to be a pop star," she insists. "I was there to prove something. I wanted to prove to the older generation that dreams can come true, no matter how old or where you are in your life. Getting to the semi-finals was a huge bonus, and on that night when I sang It's A Man's Man's Man's World, I won my little final."
Her debut album, Mine & Yours, is the first record to be released from last year's batch of contestants.
"Even when you say that, it just doesn't sound real," she laughs heartily. "I can't believe it. I'm so proud, but still find it hard to get my head around the fact I've actually done an album.
"For years, I've sat on the Tesco tills, looking at the albums, and now I've got mine there."
Despite all the praise heading her way, Byrne remains blissfully unaware of the impact her voice has.
"I've got the album on the iPod. It took about 30 listens before I could hear what other people were hearing and I'm only now starting to believe my voice is OK! It's good for recording..."
Still, with Mine & Yours set to be a success, she's already mulling over the next release.
"Louis texted last week and asked about songs for the next album. And I'm sitting there, going: 'Is he for real?'" she reveals.
"I haven't even sold an album yet, and he's already talking about the second one. That's brilliant. I'm chuffed and over the moon."
She's also tipped to be on the shortlist to sing the theme tune for the upcoming 23rd Bond film, and a solo tour is in the works.
"I would be the happiest woman on this planet, to sing a Bond song and join the greats like Shirley Bassey, Tom Jones and Paul McCartney," she says.
Life hasn't always been bright for Byrne, who takes anti-depressants to combat depression and mood swings.
"I am on anti-depressants, but for a completely different reason to what people think. The depression got pretty bad, and I had thyroid problems, so my doctor suggested a mild anti-depressant and I haven't looked back," she says.
"I still get low days where I don't feel like I belong, but anti-depressants help me through it."
Byrne, who has no intentions of returning to her Tesco job, plans to make the most of the opportunities falling on to her lap right now.
"I dreamed all my life and being on The X Factor has reawakened my dreams," she says.
"I want to act, I want to do television and films, I'd love to do West End musicals. I want to do everything. My dreams are wide open in front of me and I know some of them will happen. I'll try anything. I feel excited, like I'm alive again."
Yet she has modest wishes for her new-found riches.
"I'm thinking about buying a house and putting in a new washing machine, dryer and fridge," she admits.
She's aware that maintaining longevity in the fickle music business is tough.
"I know it can all go tomorrow so I'm taking every moment in. Hopefully it won't end yet, but if it did, I will have all those memories grafted inside of me because I'm older. I'm still on a high, and I haven't come down completely from that cloud."
With another chuckle, Byrne adds: "When you get to this age, if you don't enjoy life, you may as well just lay down and die."
Extra time - Mary Byrne :: Mary Byrne was born in Ballyfermot, Dublin, in November 1959.
:: She did some pub gigs in 2005 with her brother Tommy.
:: She won the Irish TV singing contest Nollaig No 1 using the name Mary Lee in 2008.
:: She denies being courted by flamboyant singer Wagner, saying: "He loves me as a friend. He will say, 'Mary, Mary, marry me', but he likes the younger woman."
:: She advises older contestants to enter The X Factor: "Go live it. You've still got years left in you, so when you die, at least you had a good time doing it."
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