She rose to fame on The X Factor and now she is stepping into the shoes of one of the biggest music stars of all time. Alexandra Burke will be taking to the stage in The Bodyguard at the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre this week. We caught up with her ahead of her arrival in Ireland to talk about the legend that is Whitney Houston and whether she’s looking forward to performing in Dublin.

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The show… I’m a massive Whitney Houston fan so it is an honour to perform her songs on stage. The Bodyguard is actually one of my favourite movies of all time so for me, it’s a privilege to be a part of the show. I was over the moon to find out that I had landed the role and then to take it on tour, it’s a massive deal for me. Stepping into Whitney Houston’s shoes… To be honest, I’m not really feeling the pressure doing this role as I’m not trying to fill her shoes. Let’s face it, they are massive shoes to fill. I’m just doing my interpretation and my take on who Rachel is in a modern day and age. Nobody could ever replace Whitney and I’m not trying to. Favourite song in the show… I Have Nothing is my favourite song. It’s the big one and it comes at the end of act one. The meaning of it is beautiful. It’s the scene where Rachel asks Frank out on a date and I would never be able to do that in real life so it’s quite a fun moment to act out on stage. It’s the moment they fall in love. The challenge of acting… I really enjoy the acting side of things but it is a challenge. Acting is something I love doing but my music will always be important to me. It’s fantastic and it is a lot of fun. I love it and I wouldn’t change it for the world. Being on stage in a show and being on stage as a performer are two different things. My priority will always be my music but I do love acting and I want to do that as well. The X Factor… The X Factor experience made me who I am. The first time I auditioned, I was told I wasn’t old enough. Three years later I auditioned again and I won. It just goes to show that hard work pays off and dreams can come true. It helped me to live a happy life. Performing with Beyoncé is absolutely still one of the highlights of my career. What comes next… I do want to return to my music because that’s my priority. I would absolutely love to do something with Usher or Rihanna. I think she’s bloody awesome. But I do hope to do more albums, definitely. Performing in Dublin… I am really looking forward to bringing the show to Dublin. We’re there for two weeks. I think I speak for the whole cast when I say we are all excited to perform for the Irish audience. The show in three words… I would say emotional, fearless and exciting. Favourites… Female artist: Whitney Houston Film: The Notebook Disney Princess: Tiana Designer: Stella McCartney Celebrity crush: Idris Elba

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The Bodyguard will be at the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre from July 22nd to August 1st. Tickets are available from Ticketmaster and the usual outlets nationwide. For more information, click here.