Stamford High School teenager from Wittering impresses Simon Cowell during ITV's Britain's Got Talent with Voices of the Armed Forces Children's Choir
A teenage choral singer brought four television judges to tears on ITV's Britain's Got Talent.
Honey Fleming, 13, was featured on ITV's Britain's Got Talent on Saturday night (April 30) as part of the Voices of the Armed Forces Children's Choir.
With members ranging from aged six to 18, the choir performed a song called Welcome Home, written by two children with military connections, and which the choir has previously recorded at the Abbey Road studios.
During the audition, photos of the children with their parents who are serving in the Armed Forces were displayed and Honey was seen with her dad, who serves with the Royal Engineers.
The choir had been invited to audition by Simon Cowell, who surprised them while they were rehearsing at the Guards Chapel in London. Just two days later, they found themselves at The London Palladium, auditioning in front of Simon and his fellow judges, Amanda Holden, Alesha Dixon and David Walliams, as well as a huge crowd.
"I was a bit nervous," admitted Honey, "but when you start singing and you're with your friends, you just enjoy it. It was a really exciting day!"
And the choir was delighted to receive a yes from all four judges with author and presenter David Walliams commenting: "I'm so proud of all of you" and television and radio personality Amanda Holden, wiping back tears, as she added: "I'm a mess!"
Filmed in January, all the young singers were tasked with keeping their television appearance a secret - something Honey, a pupil at Stamford High School, found challenging.
"I haven't told anyone and I don't think any of my school friends have got a clue! There's been a few near misses when my friends have been talking about Britain's Got Talent but I knew I couldn't say anything."
The choir gathered together in Catterick to watch the television programme but had to wait until minutes before the end of the hour-long show to see their appearance.
They now face a nail-biting few weeks before finding out whether they have made it through to the semi-finals, which will be aired in June.
Honey, who has two older sisters Poppy, 19, and Brooke, 16, has been part of the choir for more than a year and first got involved after reaching out through the charity Never Such Innocence, which aims to give children across the world a voice on conflict.
Honey's proud mum Tamsin says she has made new friends through the choir because of their shared experiences. She sometimes travels to London or Catterick to rehearse and other times, over Zoom.
Tamsin, who watched the audition from the sidelines near show presenters Ant and Dec, said she found it particularly emotional when photos of Honey with her dad were shown.
And thankfully, Honey's dad was at home to watch his youngest daughter's performance - something that was "very special" for the whole family, Tamsin said.
The whole family, who live at RAF Wittering, are now keeping their fingers crossed the choir makes it to the semi-finals. The overall winner bags £250,000 and the chance to show their act at The Royal Variety Performance.