A singer from Bury who transformed into a music legend for an ITV reality show has described her "amazing" experience on the programme.
Samantha Richards, 36, appeared on the latest episode of ITV’s Starstruck to perform as her idol, Diana Ross, in front of a panel of celebrity judges.
Samantha, a professional singer and teacher who has appeared in touring theatre shows including Lost in Music, and Endless Love, The Show, appeared on the programme on Saturday night alongside tributes to Jon Bon Jovi, Ed Sheeran and Judy Garland.
Starstruck, sees four groups of fans transformed into a singing superstar for a chance to win a £50,000 prize.
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Each group must perform a song by the performer in front of a panel of celebrity judges, including Jason Manford, Adam Lambert, Shania Twain and Beverley Knight.
Samantha signed up to appear on the show about being encouraged by a previous contestant, and had to remain tight-lipped about the performance until last Saturday.
She said: “It was amazing, I felt like an absolute superstar.
“We got all our hair and make-up done, we were looked after, we had a vocal coach who trained us how to sound like the artist.”
Samantha says preparation lasted for around two months before filming began.
She and her follow contestants spent around five days on set.
She said: “All our wigs were custom made, and our costumes and everything.”
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As Diana Ross, Samantha performed the Motown legend's hit song "Upside Down" with teammates Chanelle and Comfort with each member of the group portraying the iconic singer at a different stage in her career.
Despite being used to singing in front of a live audience, Samantha says it was "nerve-wracking" to know so many people would be watching her on TV.
She said: “That’s the biggest thing for me, because I’m used to performing for loads of people but it knowing that when you filming in a TV studio you going to be exposed to so many more people.
“Its really, really nerve wracking, we all had dry mouths.
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“That was definitely a step out of my comfort zone.”
Although her group were not picked to go through to the sing-off after judges chose team Ed Sheeran as their favourite, Samantha says she had a really positive time on the show.
“It was just a really nice experience the whole team were lovely, and they treated us with professionalism”, she added.
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