JAI McDowall may not have won over the X Factor judges last year but after a few tweaks to his style he’s finally secured his place on the big stage.

Having missed out on Dannii Minogue’s 2010 X Factor bootcamp, the 24-year-old singer ditched his previous image in favour of a new singing style to win the Britain’s Got Talent crown.

The nation clearly approved of the Scottish singer’s move over from country pop to opera and voted in their millions after his performance in the final.

Jai beat the bookies’ favourite, 12-year-old Ronan Parke, by just 2.5 per cent of the public vote to see him scoop the £100,000 prize and a place at this year’s Royal Variety Performance.

And Jai’s family and friends are in double celebration after ignoring the odds set by bookmakers placing bets on Jai to win from the very beginning.

“Quite a few of my friends and family have all won money on my win.

"They placed bets in the bookies and they came in. A man my dad works with won £280 so he’s especially pleased for me.

“Its been really weird, though. I’ve gone from this nobody to a person that everyone recognises.”

An average of 12.5m viewers tuned in to see the disability support worker from Ayrshire walk away with the prize after his performance of Josh Groban’s To Where You Are.

And despite the hype surrounding Ronan, Jai says he never gave up on his dream.

“Ronan was the favourite but I kept focused on myself and gave it my all.

"I think not being one of the favourites almost made me prove myself.

“I didn’t think about the fact he was only 12 but then when they said my name I felt such a mixed bag of emotions from pure joy for myself and wanting to comfort Ronan.

"He’s such a nice young lad and a really talented singer. I’m sure he’ll do well.”

Jai was back home in Glasgow visiting family this week, for the first time since his win, ahead of the Britain’s Got Talent tour.

“It was fantastic to get home. You can’t beat a cup of tea and piece of cake with the folks. And they can’t wait to come to the live show.

“I’ve got family in Manchester too so I’m really looking forward to that date.

“I’ll be singing the songs I’ve performed on the show but I’m not entirely decided on what I’ll sing for the Queen.

"It’s so important and I’ve got to impress her. I do have some time to think about it as it’s not until November.”

Jai admitted the past week had been somewhat of a whirlwind, naming the highlight — after the moment he won — as getting to meet Jack Black.

“I met him on Daybreak. He was a really nice guy and I got to chat to him for about five minutes.

"Strangely, I wasn’t even shy. I just took it in my stride. I think I’ve been so busy since last weekend that I haven’t had time to think about how big all this is.”

As far as his music career goes, Jai revealed he has no idea what the future holds.

After the upcoming nationwide tour, he won’t know if he has a record deal or any other gigs until he meets with Simon Cowell in a few weeks time.

“I’ve been given some time off work. They have been great, but I’ve no idea what the future holds.

"I’ve been taking each day at a time for now. I’m concentrating on the tour right now.

"These are huge gigs, the kind I used to dream of, so it’s all a dream come true right now and the rest we’ll have to see.”

* Britain’s Got Talent Live Tour — Echo Arena, Liverpool, on Friday, June 17; MEN Arena, Manchester, Saturday, June 18.