BEN Haenow's family were full of pride and frequently on the edge of tears as they gathered in the living room of his aunt's home in Shirley to talk about 'their Ben'.
Last week the 29-year-old made it through the first week of the X Factor live shows and the family said they have hardly slept since this series began.
"It's surreal," Ben's brother Alex said. "I keep thinking I'm going to wake up, it's that crazy. We're all struggling with the excitement and the rollercoaster that it is, as cheesy and clichéd as it sounds.
"You just become that person that bores everyone to death, talking to strangers at bus stops."
Rosanna Ward, 56, Ben's mum, added: "It's hard to concentrate on anything else."
Ben has sung in bands with his big brother, Alex, since they were children, often invading their mum's living room with their band mates.
"It was very noisy when they were growing up," Rosanna said. "And I was very enthusiastic, but after about nine in the evening I stopped being that enthusiastic about it!"
"Mum has been really supportive," said heating engineer Alex. "When we were in bands when we were at school we'd have the drummer and the bassist come round and just set up in the front room and start playing."
Rosanna said that Ben has always been an entertainer, whether it was in plays at school or being the life of the party.
"He was a lovely kid," she said. "He was always out playing, he's always been very popular – and loud! We went to see one school play and he had to jump down from a balcony and I shouted out "Oh be careful Ben!"."
Marina Steel, 52, Ben's aunt, said that as children Ben was bossed around by Alex, who is two years older than him.
"They had a go-kart which their granddad had made for them. Alex was always the one driving it and Ben was always the one pushing it," she said.
"He was a really good pusher though!" Alex added.
After their childhood bands the brothers were in rock and roll band Lost Audio together, but after years of touring the country Alex developed a condition that affected his hearing and they had to stop gigging.
This was when Ben decided to enter X Factor, but Alex said that he is happy watching his little brother performing without him.
"It's amazing to see him from the other side because I've always gone with him, so just to sit there and watch him do his thing is brilliant," said Alex.
"It's brilliant seeing my brother up there doing so well, he's so natural. I sound like a gushing fan, but I am in a sense."
Marina said that Ben's family have always been close, and two years ago they were devastated by the loss of Ben's other biggest fan, his grandad Tony Ward.
"He always used to go to watch them when they were playing in the band, it was so ridiculously loud but he loved it," she said.
"He always used to tell Ben to sing. He would have been in his element now."
And Ben's nan, Rita, 79, said she always knew he could make it on X Factor.
"You know I've been telling him for years to go and see Simon Cowell," she said. "I said go to X Factor because you will get it and he said "no, no, no, you don't know" and I said "I do know!".
"I used to say to my husband he could do it like that."
The family said they think Ben's biggest threat on the show comes from Andrea Faustini.
Jessica, Ben's girlfriend, said: "It's so hard because we've met these people and they get on so well and are so supportive of each other. Other people will see it more as rivalry but it's not.
"We believe in Ben and we believe he can go far and a lot of the public have shown their belief in him, but this is a crazy competition where anything can happen."
And the family all agreed the Ben the public have seen on TV is the same Ben they know and love.
Alex said: "He's just very genuine. What you see on telly is what you get with Ben. There's no hidden agenda or game. He's very passionate about what he's doing and he's been working for years to get to that stage."
Rosanna said: "I know, I'm his mum and all mums say it but my boys are lovely. Ben is a genuinely lovely person. He loves us all and we all love him.
"We just want to thank everyone for their support, it's been overwhelming. People will stop me that I've never seen before in my life just to say they're rooting for him."
