Who remembers Gamu??? UK X Factor's Gamu back to busking on the street... but it's all for a good cause

She shot to fame after her star appearance – and subsequent  controversial dismissal – from the X Factor.

So, when Gamu Nhengu went busking on the streets of Glasgow yesterday, you might have supposed she would be keen on a return to the talent show.

But the singer, who recently won an immigration fight to be allowed to stay with her family in Scotland, claimed going back to the hit ITV programme would be a backward step.

Instead, she now wants to focus on an album launch and a nationwide tour in the New Year.

Miss Nhengu, 19, yesterday took a break from her blossoming solo career and sang songs from her album in Buchanan Street to raise money for Scottish medical charity Developing World Health.

‘I have never busked before, so I’m kind of nervous about how it will be received,’ she said.

‘My singing career is going great  and I’m just in the process of finalizing everything.

‘I’m not thinking about going back on X Factor at the moment. 

‘I’m just thinking about the future, including my album that I will be launching in March. If that doesn’t do well, I’ll just try another one.  X Factor was the first stage in my career. If I went back, I would be taking a step back.’

Miss Nhengu, who lives with her family in Tillicoultry, Clackmannanshire, rose to fame when she was controversially axed from X Factor last year.

Despite widely being regarded as one of the better singers on the show, she was thrown out by former judge Cheryl Cole, who instead put Katie Waissel, Cher Lloyd and Rebecca Ferguson into the final.

At the time, Gamu’s plight tore at the public’s heart-strings, with 250,000 signing a protest petition on Facebook.

Now Miss Nhengu says the show is not about being a good singer.

She said: ‘X Factor is not a competition to find the world’s greatest singer. It’s about finding someone that has the “X Factor” – something a bit different.’

Miss Nhengu’s mother had her visa renewal turned down in August 2010, sparking a long battle against deportation to Zimbabwe.

At the time it was suggested Mrs Cole had been warned not to pick Miss Nhengu because of visa issues, although this was denied.