Connie Talbot credits Britain’s Got Talent with giving her a career

She rose to overnight fame when she sang on Britain’s Got Talent at the age of six, in 2007.

And on Friday’s This Morning, 22-year-old Connie Talbot, who placed second during the show’s first series, credited the televised competition with giving her a run.

The singer admitted that she is “so grateful” for her stint as a child star on Britain’s Got Talent, calling it “the start of her life”.

Connie spoke with Dermot O’Leary, 49, and Alison Hammond, 48, while sitting next to BGT child stars Natalie Okri, 24, and R&B rap duo Bars and Melody.

Natalie claimed the show “played a big role” in where she is now, while rapper Leondre Devries, 22, and singer Charlie Lenehan, 24, said she left BGT “with everything”. .

Connie said of BGT: “It seems like that was the beginning of my life, because I don’t really remember anything before that.”

But I remember bits of the show. It was just, I really just wanted to be on X Factor and I was obviously too young, so I was like, ‘yeah,’ this was next.

And it was the first season, so there were no expectations for the show at all. It started out as a fun day. Today he gave me a race, which is incredible. I am so lucky.’

Asked if she was looked after during her time on Britain’s Got Talent, she explained that the motto was “have fun”, adding: “In my head, I was Leona Lewis on stage singing Over the Rainbow.”

She also admitted that her family feared the negative comments would upset her, saying: “They were worried about it, the nasty side of Simon Cowell, but now he’s softened up.”

The professional singer has used her time on the televised competition to build a strong fan base, telling Alison and Dermot: ‘I have an EP, Growing Pains, coming out at the end of April.

‘I am an independent artist. I’m lucky to continue, I still have and I’m grateful for the opportunities.’

He took second place in BGT in 2007, with Paul Potts taking the crown with his charming operatic singing, but 16 years later he has almost 300,000 followers on Instagram and more than 180,000 followers on Twitter.

In 2009, 24-year-old Natalie Okri was just 10 years old when she impressed Simon Cowell and her fellow judges with her rendition of Alicia Keys’ smash hit No One.

Recalling her time on Britain’s Got Talent, Natalie said: “I was nine years old, I saw her at (Connie’s) audition and I was like, ‘Oh my God, I want to do it now!’ I thought, ‘Mum, look at that girl!”

‘It was so small, there were so many people. The crowd was massive. He was on stage like “just pretend these are the same old strangers I’ve been performing for”.

‘It has played a huge role in where I am now. I was bullied at school. After Britain’s Got Talent, thugs became my best friends.’

Now an adult, Natalie is a professional singer and told viewers: ‘My new single Fire will be out on March 31st. It’s an afro pop song. I do road shows on a cruise ship.

R&B rap duo Bars and Melody, made up of rapper Leondre Devries, 22, and singer Charlie Lenehan, 24, took part in the eighth series of Britain’s Got Talent in 2014.

Leondre was 13 and Charlie 15 when they rose to fame after bringing judge Alesha Dixon to tears with a song about bullying, while Simon Cowell got them through with his Gold Buzzer.

Speaking about their experience on Friday’s This Morning, the couple confessed: ‘We were all very young. We all feel so small.

‘We didn’t know what we were signing up for. It was fun. A day out of school. Awesome, let’s do it!

‘We continue with zero expectations and come away with everything we could never ask for. You can’t understand it.

Speaking of their golden buzzer moment, the duo explained, “It was freshman year, but they kept (the golden buzzer) a secret from the contestants until 5 minutes before you went on stage.”

As for the future, Bars and Melody admitted: ‘We haven’t stopped since BGT, we’ve been touring non-stop apart from Covid. Our next single Heart is out on March 17th.