The last of the Britain’s Got Talent 2022 semi-finals airs tonight, with musical theatre group Welsh of the West End taking to the stage in the hopes of securing a place in the final.
Since auditioning with The Greatest Showman’s From Now On, fans have rallied behind the group – however member Sophie Evans has revealed that she was “worried” that viewers may think they were “taking someone else’s slot” in the competition.
Speaking to RadioTimes.com in an exclusive interview alongside the group’s founder Steffan Hughes, Evans said: “The reaction was really, really positive. You know, we were worried that people might say, ‘Well, why are these people going on because they have had opportunities and things.’
“I didn’t want people to think we were taking someone else’s slot because some of us have worked professionally in high profile shows and my first job was actually at the Palladium when I was 17, so it was kind of a big circle [moment] to come back around to be there again.”
She added: “But we really wanted to spread the message of, you know, we were a positive thing to come out of lockdown and how we supported each other and how, as a musical theatre industry, we are a real community.
“And I think that’s been shown again in how people have responded to us, because the response has been amazing. You know, the tweets and people on Instagram and things like that, people sharing the audition, has been brilliant.”
Like many of the group’s members, Evans has starred in productions of Wicked and The Wizard of Oz on the West End, but she also came in second place on 2010 competition Over the Rainbow and appeared in 2014 film Pride.
Meanwhile, Steffan Hughes, who has shared the stage with Katherine Jenkins, Russell Watson and Paloma Faith, explained why the group entered the show, saying: “Britain’s Got Talent is very much a unique opportunity and a unique platform, so we just thought, ‘Why not?’
“It’s a huge stage, we hadn’t actually had a chance to sing as a full line-up of 10 until the audition day. [We thought] ‘Wouldn’t this be an amazing chance to have all of us together on stage and to be at the Palladium as well,’ which for me, personally, I’ve never performed. So that was a very big bucket list moment for me.”
