In some sweet news to round out a stellar year for Saara Alto, the 2016 X Factor runner-up has discovered she's got a secret sibling.

Speaking for the first time about her half-brother Mikael since meeting, 30-year-old Saara revealed she was contacted by him after he watched her on the ITV talent show late last year, calling the chance situation 'like a film script'.

According to The Sun , after Mikael came forward, Saara's dad confessed he'd had a one-night stand before meeting her mother.

(Image: Twitter/@TheXFactor)

The two siblings then had a DNA test which confirmed the truth.

And she couldn't be happier!

She said: "Everybody asks me, 'Did X Factor change your life?' And now I’m like, ‘More than you know’.

"One small decision, for me to get on a flight from Finland to the UK - I had no idea how that one small thing could just change my whole life forever. It’s an amazing surprise, there’s nothing negative about it. I’m just super-happy to have a new person in my life.”

(Image: Splash)

What's makes this tale even crazier is that the two grew up in the same hometown, living so close to one another for 18 years never knowing they were related.

(Image: Syco / Thames / Dymond)

It wasn't until she was spotted on such an international platform as X Factor that her picture was beamed back to Finnish television screens where Mikael saw something of a 'family resemblance' and felt compelled to reach out.

After finally meeting each other in the Finnish town of Oulu Saara discovered just how alike they were, and that they had an abundance in common - even though they'd never met.

(Image: Freemantle Media)

She said: "His smile and his eyes are just like mine — it feels so weird. He is a guitarist. My dad plays

the guitar and my brother plays the guitar and now my new brother plays the guitar... He is studying to be an English teacher and his second language is Japanese, which is really weird because I love and speak Japanese."

2017 has been a thrill for Saara, who's bagged a new record deal with Warner, scored a slot performing at next year's Eurovision, she'll be a judge on the Finnish version of X Factor - and now she's got another family member to share it all with.

Speaking about her new gig at judge on the talent show , she told Christine Lampard on ITV's Lorraine: "I definitely want to be a good friend and help my singers. I think my experience will help me quite a lot! I know what they're going through."

Everything is coming up Alto!