Alesha Dixon has detailed her reaction to one of this year’s ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ auditions, revealing that she was “moved to tears” when Hollie Booth, a survivor of the Manchester bombing, took part in the tryouts with her friends.
Hollie, 13, suffered two broken legs in the blast and now uses a wheelchair. For her audition, she performed a dance routine with her friends and the Ariana Grande track ‘One Last Time’ formed part of the soundtrack.
While we’ll have to wait until the series starts to see the dance in full, Hollie’s dance group previously shared a video of one routine on Facebook:
“For me that audition was bigger than the show,” Alesha said. “That’s the only way to describe the magnitude of what she’s been through and the moment of her performing on the show.
“It was one of those moments where everyone is humbled.
“It was an interesting audition because on one hand your heart is bleeding and you feel so sad, but by the end of the audition you’re completely uplifted because you’re watching this young girl do the most inspiring routine in such a beautiful way, that you then just felt this joy.”
“I’d never experienced anything quite like it actually,” she continued. “I was trying so hard, obviously we were moved to tears, but I tried to keep it together, by the end we were smiling and happy crying.”
Holly attended Ariana’s Manchester Arena concert with her aunt, Kelly Brewster, who died in the attack.
‘BGT’ returns to our screens on Saturday (14 April) but it’s unclear what role Ant and Dec will have in the new series, following the former’s recent drink-driving arrest.
Ant McPartlin temporarily stepped down from all work commitments in the wake of his arrest, but the ‘BGT’ auditions had already been filmed when he did so.