Jess Glynne may be a superstar now but last time she was here she was a broke backpacker

JESS Glynne has come full circle since backpacking around Australia six years ago, sharing a hostel room with other travellers.

UK Pop singer Jess Glynne in Sydney to appear on the X Factor but it is not the first time as she backpacked around Australia for six weeks in 2009. Picture: Mark Evans

JESS Glynne has come full circle since backpacking around Australia six years ago, sharing a hostel room with other travellers.

“It was a totally different experience. I was poor living out of a backpack and I did all of the touristy things travelling up the east coast,” the British pop superstar remembers of her six week trip in 2009.

You’d have to have been living under a rock to have not heard one of Jess Glynne’s chart topping songs.

She holds the joint record alongside Cheryl Cole as the only British female artist to have five number one singles and recently topped the UK charts with her debut album, I Cry When I Laugh.

I Cry When I Laugh — Jess Glynne (Warner)

Glynne is in Sydney this week promoting the album and performing on The X Factor tonight.

Her tracks are on high rotation on commercial radio and include latest hit, Don’t Be So Hard On Yourself, as well as her Tinie Tempah collaboration Not Letting Go and Clean Bandit hit Rather Be. There’s also Real Love and Hold My Hand.

“It is such an amazing position to be in,” she said. “I don’t think I could have anticipated this in any way. Everything has been so fast happening all at once.”

Glynne holds the joint record alongside Cheryl Cole as the only British female artist to have five number one singles.

Shortly after releasing her album earlier this year, Glynne was forced to cancel a series of gigs to take a break to have throat surgery. Coincidentally she was referred to her doctor by superstar singer friend Sam Smith.

“It was a really traumatic thing to go through and you never know with your voice if it is going to go for the best or the worst,” she said.

An Australian tour is in the works for next year and is already thinking about her next album.

“Life at the moment is so mad there is so much I can write about and I’m inspired by,” she said. “I could definitely get in the studio and create something.”