TALENTED Tilly McLaren is living the dream.

The Camelsdale Primary School pupil will soon be singing to an audience of millions on Saturday night, as a would-be star in ITV’s The Voice Kids UK.

Tilly, right, beat nationwide competition from 14,000 seven to 14 year olds, for a spot on the initial blind auditions segment of the show.

In the second show in the series on Saturday, she will sing Ariana Grande’s hit Brand New You for coaches willi.am, Pixie Lott and McFly frontman Danny Jones, to win a place in the finals.

“It’s really amazing,” Tilly, who has just celebrated her 11th birthday, said. “I still can’t believe I got all this way, there were loads of auditions.

“I first heard when my mum picked me up from school and I just started shrieking. It was so exciting.

“Being filmed for the blind audition on Saturday was the most nerve-wracking thing I’d ever done. It was in front of a giant audience and there were bright lights and cameras.

“The first time I sang the song, I belted it out as loud as I could. Now, after having coaching to help me I wonder how I managed before.

“Singing makes me happy and I’m a big fan of Ariane Grande. I was very excited to meet the coaches. It’s amazing to think such big celebrities know my name. We had to stay in a hotel in Manchester for the filming and when I checked in they asked for my autograph.”

Tilly will also be on stage tonight (Thursday) and tomorrow night at Haslemere Hall in Haslemere Thespians Next Generation’s production of Alan Ayckbourn’s Ernie’s Incredible Illucinations and The Caged Birds, by David Campton. A key member of the youth group, Next Generation, Tilly was in Haslemere Thespians’ Christmas production, Peter Pan.

A longstanding member of Liphook-based Stagecoach Performing Arts, her first big break came last summer, when she appeared at The Mayflower Theatre in Southampton in Joseph.

“Everyone will have to watch on Saturday to see how she did in The Voice Kids blind auditions and to find out if she got through to the next round,” Tilly’s mother Vicky said. “It was the most challenging yet wonderful experience to be involved in. I was acting as her agent, organiser and manager and it was such an exciting experience. Tilly has learned so much and grown in confidence so much.

“It was a new experience for the coaches, too, to be working with children.

“We are very proud of Tilly and how she well she handled it. The person who suffered the most nerves was her mother.

“Magic happens when Tilly walks on stage. Somehow she turns into 120 per cent of herself.”