Ted Jackson is a tenor of all trades. He has been a broker, an English teacher and still works as a builder.

But Ted also sings for a living after he found fame on the Channel 4 TV talent show Operatunity last year.

The 32-year-old from West Sussex now wants to become a full-time opera singer and is currently putting the finishing touches to his first album.

He said: "It's self-financed. I've put my life savings into it and re-mortgaged the house. But it's what I want to do. You have to take risks."

The album will probably be called Hope after the name of a song Ted has been invited to sing at a concert to raise money for the Vietnam Veterans Fund in America next year.

In the meantime he's looking forward to coming to Swindon.

Ted said: "I'm a crowd pleaser, so I can't wait for the picnic and proms. I love singing the popular ones like Nessun Dorma and the Drinking Song from La Traviata."

Next month he has been asked to sing for Kenny Jones, from The Who, at a rock and jazz concert in Ewhurst. TV presenters Richard and Judy were blown away by a recent performance.

So the tenor has come a long way since his days of simply singing at home.

He drives his wife Sophie and three children, Oscar, 10, Alabama, six, and Ludo, two, up the wall when he practises.

Ted said: "It's a noisy house. I must drive them all crazy but they can see how much I enjoy it."

Brought up in Surrey, he spent his childhood singing and listening to music by Abba, Neil Diamond and Barry Manilow.

At the age of 18 he embarked on a degree in performing arts at Middlesex University, but dropped out two years into the course.

He said: "I wasn't cut out for academic life. Sophie also fell pregnant with our first child Oscar, so I left."

Ted tried to seek his fortune in London and became a broker dealing in the bond market. After two years of getting up at 6am he decided to call it a day, having failed to make substantial gains.

Ted said: "I did a course to teach English as a foreign language. It was fine but I didn't really enjoy it."

So he set up his own building company and took to working outside in the fresh air. He was doing some building work at a school when a music teacher heard him sing during his tea break.

Ted said: "She told me I had a good voice and should have singing lessons. In the bottom of my heart I always wanted to be a singer, so I followed her advice."

His friends saw an advert on TV asking for people to audition for the show Operatunity and persuaded Ted to go for it. He made it through to the final 20 and used the publicity to get concert bookings.

Ted said: My first concert was with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. I absolutely loved it and from the moment I stepped on stage, I wanted to make a career of it."