Former X-Factor winner Alexandra Burke will star in The Bodyguard at The Mayflower

The tour opens at the Mayflower Theatre, Southampton on February 12 and Alexandra has spoken exclusively to the Daily Echo about her excitement.

“I can’t b****y wait to be honest! I’m really excited,” she told me, breathlessly, adding: “I have my new script and I’m thrilled and honoured to be taking on this challenge!”

Alexandra took over the role of Rachel Marron from Beverley Knight for the final three months of the West End run and received rave reviews for her acting debut.

The three-time Brit nominee revealed the touring production will be far more demanding, exploiting more of her talents.

“They are adding new songs and the choreography will be more difficult because the director has decided I can do a lot more, so it will be a massive challenge – more than when I did it in the West End.”

She admits to being nervous and is very modest about her obvious talent: “With any kind of show I take on I’m always nervous and it worries me, but I’m not so excited it takes over me. I’ve been trained to do this: I’m not the best of the best, but I will give it my all.”

The tour, which begins in Southampton in February and concludes in Manchester in 2016, has been split into chunks of three months and Alexandra is happy about that arrangement:

“I did three months in the West End and with the tour I’m doing what I know I can physically handle. I’ve also got my own concert tour in September – ten dates, back to back, as soon as I come off The Bodyguard in August. I will have been rehearsing for that whilst doing the show.”

Comparisons are always going to be made with Whitney Houston who starred in The Bodyguard the movie in 1992 alongside Kevin Costner.

The romantic thriller was Houston’s acting debut and was the second-highest-grossing film worldwide in 1992, making $411 million worldwide.

The soundtrack, meanwhile, became the best-selling soundtrack of all time, selling more than 45 million copies.

So does Alexandra feel that Whitney’s shoes are big shoes to fill?

“I don’t want to be compared to Whitney or anyone else. It’s just an honour to follow in those footsteps. I take a very different approach to all three other performers who did it before me. It’s just an honour to take on such an iconic role. You are only as good as your last performance and I try my best.

“I feel for me personally there's always pressure in anything I do, whether that’s releasing a song or releasing an album or going into a different stage in my life – this is an adventure for me. To me, if I don’t feel pressure I worry, because it's like ‘OK, you’ve gotta feel some pressure to work great’ in my opinion.

"I do feel some pressure but I don’t feel pressure to play Whitney Houston’s part. Whitney Houston played Rachel Marron.

"Heather Headley started off this role playing Rachel Marron in The Bodyguard musical.

"Beverley Knight’s took over and now it’s me. I’m taking on a role that is Rachel Marron, not Whitney Houston – there’s a big difference.

"Whitney made the role famous, and now I’ve been given the beautiful opportunity to play that role on tour. For me, it’s such a great opportunity to play it and give my own interpretation to the role.”

Alexandra was exposed to music from an early age. She is the daughter of Melissa Bell, lead singer of Soul II Soul who has always been a major influence.

Alexandra began dance classes at a very early age, and began singing when she was as young as five years old. She went on to to sing on stage with her mother when she was only nine years old.

“I’ve always been singing – probably since the day I shot out of my mother’s womb. My mum has been my greatest teacher and inspiration and she still teaches me everything I want to know. I give a lot of thanks to my mum for the voice that I have.”

When she was 12, Alexandra entered the television talent show, Star for a Night and became the youngest person in the competition.

She was the runner-up after she was beaten for the winner’s title by Joss Stone.

She finally rose to fame after winning the fifth series of The X Factor in 2008. Her debut number one single, Hallelujah, sold over one million copies in the UK, a first for a British female soloist.

She had further number one singles with Bad Boys and Start Without You.

Looking back she says: “It’s crazy: it’s something I have to continually pinch myself for. Six years on and how time flies. I get speechless talking about it because X Factor changed my life and I always pay respect to it. X Factor is my home and it’s a great pleasure when I go back.

“I’m really excited about The Bodyguard. It’s not Alexandra Burke performing: it’s The Bodyguard team. It’s the team making it complete and I’m excited to join a new cast – I can’t wait to meet them all.

“Acting is definitely daunting. At 16 I stopped acting and my mum said I should concentrate on singing, although she did say it would come back round again and it has, ten years later.

“It’s a challenge I’m in love with and I just want to continue with this show and make it better – there’s always room for improvement.”

Alexandra recalled when she was first offered the part in the West End: “How could you say no to such an amazing opportunity?

"For me, it was something that came about very unexpected, and when I got the email from my agency saying ‘they want you to take on Rachel Marron, what do you think?’ I was just like ‘woah woah woah woah woah!’ – that’s exactly what my reaction was, because it wasn’t part of the plan to take on such a big role.

“I came back to England and literally went in and sang some Whitney songs, did a little bit of acting, and after I walked out, two hours later they said ‘the role is yours if you want it’, and it didn’t take me long to say ‘yes’.

"The opportunity came about a couple of years ago and I couldn’t do it because of schedules and stuff, and it came back again and I thought ‘this must be a blessing’.

“I’m a huge fan of Whitney Houston – always have been – it’s something in her legacy, and I’ve always wanted to do acting, why not do all my three loves in one go and have this great opportunity, and why not have your debut as an actress as well doing The Bodyguard?

“To me, there was nothing that could top this opportunity, so straight away I was like ‘let’s go have some fun, let’s do it!’" 

With such a challenging year ahead does Alexandra have any special measures she takes to keep fit and healthy to deal with her gruelling schedule?

“Yes, I do look after my health.

"I do yoga four times a week and I’m always in the gym. I’ve changed my diet completely for the show. I have no alcohol, no dairy and I’m already gluten-free.

"When I did the West End show my weight dropped dramatically.

"I got so thin, so I will be tucking in to my food beforehand!"

• Tickets for The Bodyguard (Tuesday, February 12 to Saturday, February 28) are on sale from the Mayflower Theatre box office: 023 8071 1811 or online at mayflower.org.uk.