Leona can’t afford to buy her own house, according to her dad.

The 22-year-old singer landed a mega-money five-album record contract after winning X Factor in 2006. But she is still renting a tiny one-bedroom flat with her boyfriend Lou Al-Chamaa in London’s Stamford Hill.

Her dad Jo Lewis told the Sunday Mirror: “It’s a myth Leona is some millionaire, rolling in money.

“Even if she wants to, Leona can’t afford to buy a house yet. She earns enough to live on, but that’s it. She did get a multi-million-pound contract but that is used by the record company for producing the album and promoting it. She isn’t as well off as everyone thinks.”

Despite apparently being “stretched for cash” Leona has told pals she wants to move to Los Angeles. The former receptionist loved America when she recorded her album there last year and now wants to live there.

A source said: “Leona knows she can be a star on both sides of the water and she has fallen in love with the States.”

Source: Sunday Mirror