When she was just 19 years old, Alexandra Burke was joined by the one and only Beyonce on The X Factor stage, but before that happened, the star gave her a stern warning.
The former Destiny’s Child member, 43, is one of music’s most respected names and one many could only dream of performing with, for Alexandra, 39, that dream became a reality in 2008.
Considered one of the most iconic duets in X Factor history, with over two million YouTube views, the performance came about thanks to show creator Simon Cowell.
Alexandra was a part of Cheryl Cole’s team, and Simon, 65, called in a favour and organised for the finalist to be joined by Beyonce, while her competitor, Louis Walsh’s JLS performed with Westlife.
Opening up about the iconic performance, Alexandra sat down with Capital XTRA Breakfast’s Robert Bruce and Shayna Marie, sharing her backstage chat with the Lemonade singer.
‘What’s running through my mind is, “How am I going to keep up with this woman?” Because we only had one rehearsal, and it was shocking.’
‘Because she was like, “Don’t sing anymore, because you might lose your voice.” That’s what she told me. And then she said, “I didn’t come here sing with someone that will lose”.’
‘She goes, “I didn’t fly all this way to do that, you’re going to win!”‘ Alexandra laughed.
The then-budding musician recalled telling Beyonce that she had ‘won in my heart’ as she had sung with her, but as it turns out, she went on to win the season as well.
A clip of her comments was shared on Instagram with fans finding the exchange hilarious.
Nathan Charles Smith wrote: ‘Brilliant 😂’, while Whitneyveniya said: ‘😂😂 Nah. Beyonce sounding like every African parent!’
Many other fans shared laughing face emojis, while some said they ‘loved’ Alexandra’s recounting of the story.
Louis, 71, spoke about the X Factor star’s win when he appeared on Celebrity Big Brother in March and said Simon ruined his chances of winning by recruiting the music mogul.
‘Simon loved Cheryl and what did he do? book her Beyonce. That’s what he’s like. That’s why he’s liked,’ he told his housemates.
Elsewhere in the interview, the Strictly Come Dancing runner-up spoke about her recent engagement to footballer Darren Randolph, describing the day as ‘magical’.
The pair, who welcomed their first child together in June 2022 and second in September 2023, announced their engagement last month.
‘Don’t, it was magical!’ she told the radio station. ‘The engagement was so well thought through. Like, Darren is… I didn’t even know how romantic he could actually be until that day!
‘The post we’ve put up on Instagram – is ‘What a Wonderful World’ by Louis Armstrong. That’s my granddad’s song, and that song played just before it happened. And I thought, ‘If he doesn’t do it now, it is never going to happen for us – this is just an anniversary!’
‘But when I walked out into that terrace and saw him with the babies, oh my god. Oh my god. I just couldn’t stop crying! I’m getting tearful now, because it’s the man of my dreams’.’
She continued to say she is ‘really blessed’ with her family.
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While Alexandra shot to fame in the music industry, the star has taken on acting in recent years, starring in a number of productions, including Mrs Blunderbore in the London Palladium pantomime, Jack and the Beanstalk and Pretty Red Dress, directed by Dionne Edwards.