AN AMERICAN Idol contestant from Basildon has issued an emotional thank you to family and fans following his elimination from the show.
In recent weeks, Ché Chesterman, from Langdon Hills, had been enjoying a steady stream of successful performances on the hit US competition - earning high-praise from its A-list judges.
Farewell - Ché said thank you to his fans before heading back to the UK (Image: Disney/Eric McCandless) The former X-Factor star's fortunes came to end in Monday night's episode in which he was one of of two singers to be axed as a result of a public vote.
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"This experience has been so instrumental in making me love music again and I have so many people to thank for that including the other contestants on the show who are now my friends and all my new supporters who joined me on this journey," said Ché.
"From sitting on the sofa with my Dad when I was a child watching some of my heroes perform on that show to now being able to say that I went and did it myself, hopefully making him proud along the way.
"To my beautiful little family, thank you so much for your love, strength and support on this journey, you are my world and my only reason."
Performer - Ché consistently wowed the American Idol judges (Image: Disney/Eric McCandless) After bursting onto British TV screens as an X-Factor finalist in 2015, Ché continued to pursue music and performance, but has previously described American Idol as his biggest challenge to date.
Despite consistently earning praise from judges, Luke Bryan, Lionel Richie and Carrie Underwood, Ché's lack of US hometown support made surviving public votes difficult.
"Thank you so much American Idol for making this man's dreams come true, things I only ever thought about when I was a kid and never thought it would be possible," Ché' added.
Proud - Ché put in a strong performance on American Idol (Image: Ché Chesterman) "The team at American Idol are made up of the some of the most incredible people I have ever met and people that are just so wonderful at their jobs.
"Ain’t sad its over just glad it happened, more to come from me."
Ché is now returning back to the UK and is hoping to use his newfound American fame to push his music career to the next level and is hoping to release more of his own work in the near future.