THE chance of getting more work was the reason Tracey Caron entered The X Factor. Millions watched her perform on ITV’s Saturday evening talent show and she hopes that a busier diary will be the outcome.

‘I’ve been in showbusiness since the age of 16 and I did it for the exposure, hoping to get something out of it, like work on a TV advert,’ she said.

Miss Caron has travelled the world as a balancing acrobat speciality act and she also sings and dances.

On Saturday night she delivered a version of Shirley Bassey’s Big Spender while at the same time doing an acrobatic tumbling routine.

‘The advert for contestants did not emphasise exactly what they wanted and if they had wanted singing, then I could have gone as a straight singer.’

She said the act was her definition of what The X-Factor was and her singing was somewhat compromised by the tumbling routine.

Not all the judges were impressed with her performance and, at one stage, Simon Cowell compared it to a circus act, although Miss Caron was undeterred.

‘It was obvious that the physical side of things was not for Simon but I think Sharon [Osbourne] and Louis [Walsh] appreciated my physical fitness and did recognise it as entertainment.

‘It’s good entertainment but people have to be prepared for humiliation and intimidation. I’m not the sort of person who can be humiliated because I’ve been in showbusiness all my life and I’m a confident performer.’

Miss Caron also works as a self-employed aerobics instructor and she hopes her TV exposure will generate work in advertising, possibly from health- or fitness-related companies.

Dedication and discipline are the keys to surviving in showbusiness, she said, but people should be under no illusion that the work is easy and the market is very competitive.

‘I’m a realist and the problem these days is that a lot of people want to be famous and don’t appreciate the work you need to do to achieve it.’

TV talent shows have created greater opportunities for more people to see themselves as stars, and programmes such as The X Factor and Pop Idol were all about record contracts.

‘Exposure is what counts and you don’t particularly need talent to be famous, but you have to be in the right place at the right time.’

Now 42, Miss Caron was 24 when she began her balancing act under the guidance of her Chester-based trainer. She said it took about a year to get the whole act together. Since then, it has taken her all over the world.

She was not too despondent about her elimination from prime-time TV’s newest talent show.

‘Simon probably knows in his eyes what he is looking for but that doesn’t mean it will be what everybody else is looking for in The X Factor.’

She said her TV performance was very different from her controlled balancing act.