A journey which might end in super stardom begins for Fulham X Factor hopeful Matthew Newtion on Saturday.

Matthew, 26, a former pupil of Queen's Manor Primary School in Lysia Street and Henry Compton School in Kingwood Road, will perform in the first of what he hopes will be 12 live shows as part of the group FYD, which stands for For Your Destiny.

A trained ballet dancer, Matthew, who is being mentored by the show's supremo, Simon Cowell, is being backed by friends, who have launched a group on social networking site Facebook urging people to vote for the band.

Henry Compton headteacher Bernie Peploe said Matthew was always a bright and lively presence during his time at the school and said she hopes his participation in such a high profile show will be source of inspiration to current students.

He said: "We are delighted to hear of Matthew’s success. At Henry Compton he was a lively, mature and likeable student who was immensely talented in music, sport and dance.

"He achieved excellent GCSE’s, particularly an A* in English. He is certainly a positive role model for our students in terms of achieving a good balance between his academic studies and participating in extra -curricular activities.

"The school is extremely proud to learn that our former student has made the final 12 of ‘X’ factor and all of our boys will be right behind him! He definitely has the ‘X’ Factor!"

FYD met while taking dance classes at Pinewood Studios and formed a band over Facebook. They sailed through the opening auditions of X Factor and into 'boot camp', getting the nod through to the 'judges' houses stage, where Cowell saw enough to put them through to the live finals and on the path to stardom.

Life hasn't always been as exciting for Matthew, however. He has been quoted in the national press as saying he left home and slept rough for a time before turning his life around and putting himself through stage school.

He hopes the turnaround will be complete when the winner of the show is announced in December.