Gareth Gates stole the hearts of the nation with an emotional performance on hit show Pop Idol - then broke down in tears as his close friend Zoe Birkett was dumped out of the competition.

The Bradford teenager's rendition of the Righteous Brothers' Unchained Melody and Wham's Wake Me Up Before You Go Go earned him a place in the final three of ITV's talent show.

Today, his delighted family said that his performances are getting better and better as he gains confidence each week.

But he had to overcome his trickiest moment to date on Saturday when his stammer prevented him from dedicating his second song of the night to his mum.

However Gareth, 17, recovered brilliantly and his performance was branded "the best of the series" by hard-to-please judge Simon Cowell.

He could now be just two weeks from becoming the pop industry's latest superstar, with only two other contestants - Darius Danesh, 21, and Will Young, 22, - now standing in his way from the initial 10,000 hopefuls.

But that could not stop Gareth breaking down in tears as he found out that 16-year-old Zoe was voted off the hit show after polling the fewest of the three-and-a-half million votes cast.

The friendship between the pair had become front-page news in the tabloid Press last week after the two were spotted sharing a bag of chips together on a night out in London.

And the bond was there for all to see during their emotional embrace at the end of Saturday's programme.

Today, back at home in East Bowling, dad Paul Gates admitted Gareth and Zoe, an A-level student from Darlington, had become close during the period down in London.

"The two of them are best buddies," he said. "The papers have mentioned it a lot this week. They are best mates, but there is no romance there. They have just become soul mates and supported one another along the way."

Mr Gates said his family was delighted with Gareth's success on Saturday.

"It was a great performance once again," he said. "I think he sang really well and you can see that he is gaining in confidence as the weeks roll by.

"If you go back to the first few live shows I think he performed well, but now you can see that he is really enjoying each show. His performances are just getting better and better.

"People have commented, and I feel this myself, that Gareth showed true professionalism on Saturday. He wanted to say those words between the songs because it is his mum's all time favourite song. He wanted to dedicate it to his mum, but as everyone saw he just couldn't get his words out.

"Unfortunately, the band and singers had to start up again and that took Gareth by surprise, but he coped with it really well."

And he stressed that, despite the intense media interest, Gareth is not feeling the pressure.

"The public clearly love Gareth because so many are voting for him each week, but we are just taking each performance as it comes. He knows that we are 100 per cent behind him all the way."

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