BB FANS

THE grandmother of Kerry McGregor yesterday revealed that the X Factor finalist tried to shrug off the fall that was to leave her in a wheelchair.

As she lay at the foot of a tree she had been climbing, Kerry, then 13, told her mother: "Don't worry, mum, I'm all right."

Eighteen years on, her grandma Jessie McKerracher, 81, recalls: "She didn't even cry. She knew her mum would be upset at the mere fact she'd fallen, so she tried to make light of it. I've never heard Kerry say, 'I wish it hadn't happened'. She always looks on the bright side. When she comes to see me, she's always beaming. You feel better just having talked to her."

Jessie also told of the courage Kerry showed after the accident, mastering crutches so she could return to her school and going out shopping, and even dancing, with the help of friends.

Kerry comes from a long line of singers, said Jessie. Among them her grandad, Bobby, was known locally as "Bing" after Bing Crosby and her mum, Margaret, was in a group. Her gran added: "Kerry sang on her potty."

Single parent Kerry, 31, has had to leave 17-month-old son Joshua with her family in West Lothian while she tries to win The X Factor in London.