Remember little Connie Talbot from Britain’s Got Talent? The singer won the hearts of the nation after appearing on the hit talent show back in 2007, where she wowed Simon Cowell and the other judges with her rendition of Over the Rainbow when she was just seven.
However, now aged 23, the singer has opened up about the experience, revealing that she had to go to school with a bodyguard over concerns for her safety.
Speaking on the DEEP YouTube channel, she explained: “[Fame] exposed me to the darker sides of the world that probably a child wouldn't hear of till later in life. We got approached by a journalist who was meant to work for a newspaper but it turned out that he was just interested in children.”
She continued: “Luckily I was protected by my mum and dad but that was probably the first time I realised safety was a massive thing for me… I remember when I first got off the show, I had a bodyguard called Danny who was 6'10. He'd follow me to school every day, and be with me on the playground. People would climb the trees outside my school to get a photo of a little girl in uniform which is just gross.”
Connie, who was a runner-up in the competition but went on to have a record deal, she added: “I have two four-year-old nieces now and I would track down any person who had any kind of interest in them at that age.”
Connie is still a musician and released her most recent single Growing Pains in 2023. Speaking about appearing on the show last year on This Morning, she said: “It feels like that was the beginning of my life, because I don't really remember anything before that.
© Lorne Thomson“But I remember bits of the show. At it was just, I really just wanted to be on the X Factor and obviously I was too young, so I was like, ‘Yes’ this was the next thing. And It was the first season so there were no expectations for the show whatsoever. It just started as a fun day out. It's given me a career today, which is incredible. I'm so lucky.”
