Bernie Nolan has admitted that she decided to sign up for ITV’s Popstar to Operastar in honour of her mum.

Bernie, one part of the celebrated Nolan Sisters said:

“When I heard about this series, it immediately appealed because my mother was the only trained singer in our family.

“She won a place at the Royal College of Music in Dublin, but didn’t go because she wanted to do musical theatre instead. That was a good decision because I wouldn’t be here if she’d gone to the college! But were she alive today, she’d be absolutely thrilled that I’m involved with this project. I’m doing it for her.”

Bernie, who sang lead vocals on The Nolans’ smash hit, “I’m In The Mood For Dancing,” continued that, “I can definitely take what I’ve learnt here back to my pop career. Pop singers tend to lose their voices a lot more than opera singers, and now I know why. With pop singers, the voice comes from the throat, which wears it out. With opera singers, it comes from the stomach which makes it last much longer. I now know to protect my instrument, as they call it. The other day, the teacher told me, ‘you have to sing from the diaphragm’. And I replied, ‘that’s funny – I don’t even wear one!’”