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 22-year-old 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.
Deanna Mussington (pictured) has got through to the final stages of the X Factor. But behind the smiles is the devastation her family is suffering back in Anguilla after Hurricane Irma destroyed parts of the Caribbean island last month
Speaking to The Mail on Sunday about the traumatic scenes, Deanna 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.
Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson is pictured directing troops on the Caribbean island of Anguilla after Hurricane Irma destroyed buildings last month
Miss Mussington’s family’s car hire business was destroyed by the storm and a member of their community died in the tragedy. Troops are pictured helping the relief effort
Deanna 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.’
Miss Mussington is through to the final stages of the X Factor after singing her heart out in front of the judges