Jamie Duffy, who covered his scar from open-chest surgery with make-up for his X Factor appearance
A former Dundalk FC footballer is set to make a big impact on this year’s X Factor.
Jamie Duffy, who was a member of John Gill’s First Division winning side in 2008, reportedly melts the heart of Cheryl Cole in the new series after almost reducing her to tears with his story of how he had open-chest surgery to remove a tumour.
The 30-year-old, who was born in Texas, sailed through his initial studio audition in Edinburgh with all four judges giving him the thumbs up and he will now appear at the arena stage in London early next month.
Duffy sang ‘Say Something’ by A Great Big World and Christina Aguilera and ‘La La La’ by Naughty Boy.
The midfield player – who also had spells at Shamrock Rovers, Longford Town, Kilkenny City and Drogheda United – played 38 times for Dundalk in the 2008 season – more than any other player. He also grabbed eight goals that season, leaving him behind only Robbie Farrell in the scoring stakes and would have played alongside current Lilywhite Simon Kelly.
Now living in Tallaght, Duffy has tried to make a musical breakthrough before having been a member of boyband Boulevard.
In March of last year his world was turned upside down when he was told he would die within a year if he did not have open-chest surgery.
He told The Sunday World: ““I felt rough for a good while, I knew there was something wrong. I just couldn’t put my finger on it.
“For about six months, seven months, I wasn’t really feeling 100 per cent and at times really bad.
“The operation was very, very risky. They basically said you either have the operation or you die within a year, so I had to get the operation. What they found was a teratoma tumour.
“They did all the tests and I wasn’t cancerous afterwards,” he said. “I go back every six months, to make sure it doesn’t grow back.”
Talk of the Town 