X Factor star Deanna tells of her hurricane heartache

X FACTOR contestant Deanna Mussington jumped for joy last night when she was told she was going through to the final stages of the competition.

However, behind the singer’s smiles was the heartache of what she has left behind at home in Anguilla – the Caribbean island destroyed by Hurricane Irma last month.

The singer’s family lost their car hire business in the disaster, and she wept as she watched her neighbour’s home being torn to pieces by the storm.

Speaking to The Mail on Sunday about the traumatic scenes, Deanna, right, said she thought she was going to die. ‘I’m blessed to be alive after what happened. I am very, very grateful,’ she said.

‘There is nothing left of my neighbour’s house now, I watched it get blown apart. She has nothing left and my mother’s business has gone. All of the cars were destroyed. Someone in our community died too.’

She said islanders had been without mains electricity following the storm, relying on generators for power. ‘But they don’t last for ever,’ she added.

Deanna, 22, was on a trip home after her success at the audition stage. She was living with mum Jean, stepfather Ronard and grandmother Monica when the hurricane struck. Now the starlet, a favourite of head judge Simon Cowell, is determined to give back to the island community who have supported her dream to become a singer. ‘I am thinking of doing a benefit concert when I go back. It was the citizens of Anguilla who pulled together to get me to Britain to do my X Factor audition so now it’s time for me to return the good.’