Dame Shirley's granddaughter auditions on X Factor

Dame Shirley's granddaughter auditions on X Factor
Dame Shirley's granddaughter auditions on X Factor (Image credit: PA Archive/Press Association Ima)

Dame Shirley Bassey's granddaughter has made a bid to follow in the star's footsteps by auditioning for this year's X Factor. Tatjana, 17, flew from her family home in Spain to sing for the judges, who were amazed to discover she was related to the big-voiced 72-year-old, whose hits include Big Spender, Goldfinger and Diamonds are Forever. But despite expectations, when the teenager opened her mouth to sing, sources close to the show said that judges were not blown away by her rendition of Faith Hill's song There You'll Be. This left them with a big dilemma over whether to put the curly-haired youngster through. The hopeful is the daughter of Bassey's adopted son Mark Novak. Her parents split up in the early 1990s and Tatjana explained to judges that she had not seen her superstar gran since she was a little girl. ITV has not yet set a firm date to screen the audition, which took place in Birmingham.

Patrick McLennan

Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix. 

An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.