Hayley Tamaddon (Delilah Dingle, Emmerdale)

What’s your favourite music style?
I love 70s disco and I like all the old soul classics.

Is that what you’re hoping to sing?
Fingers crossed. If I get a couple of them, I’ll be really chuffed.

Can you name your top three albums?
Beverley Knight, her album. Love her. There’s an album which you might not have heard of; she’s a lady called Divine Brown and my boyfriend picked up her album for me in Thailand and she’s got the most amazing diva voice. It’s all soul classics, probably songs you won’t know or have heard of. Who else do I like? Christina Aguilera. Absolute legend that girl is.

What’s your earliest singing memory?
My mum reckons that I’ve been singing since before I was born. But, if I think really far back, it’s probably when I was about six or seven, and I had to sing ‘If They Could See Me Now’ with this little dress on and a feather boa on stage in a little dance concert. It was at my dance school. And I probably sounded like Bonnie Langford did when she was a child, just this big, big, massive voice coming out of these tiny little teeth.

Who would you compare yourself with musically?
Oh, that’s difficult. I would love to say…I don’t know. See, I love Christina and if I could sing like her… I don’t think I really sound like anyone. I’d love to sound like Christina or Beverley Knight, She’s just a diva.

What should the audience expect from you?
Last year I sang Lou Lou on ‘Stars in Their Eyes’, so they kind of got a taster of how big my voice is. I’m not very good at opera, so if I get anything that’s operatic, I’ll really be scared. But hopefully, they’ll just expect a bubbly girl to come out and give them a good show. I think I’m better at that then singing.

Is Roxy going to give you any tips?
Lucy has given me so much advice, because obviously Lucy’s a fellow Dingle and we get on very well and she’s given me loads of advice on how to be calm before I go on and not to panic too much.

Are you going to be able to handle the judges’ comments?
If I get told I’ve got fat arms, I’ll cry. I think I’ll deal with it quite well. I’m quite a ‘what-you-see-is-what-you-get’ kind of person. If they tell me something I don’t agree with, I will be inclined to, I’m not rude, but I will be inclined to say ‘well this is my opinion’.

What would your character say about you taking part?
I think my character would love it. But you see, she’s probably more of a karaoke queen. Definitely. She’d be well up for it.

Did you watch last year’s show?
Yes, I even came twice to see the live show. I loved it. I absolutely loved the show last year. It just keeps you gripped. How you don’t know from one day to the next day what you’re going to sing and whether you’re in or out.

How are you going to deal with it?
Alright, I think. I think if I just keep calm. When I get nervous I tend to get giggly. Rather than go inside myself, I tend to be a bit extrovert. So hopefully, I’ll get rid of my nervous energy that way. As long as my voice doesn’t go wobbly when I sing and I don’t get the shakes, I’ll be alright.

It’s quite a demanding schedule.
Oh yeah. Lucy last year was just so tired all the time, so I’ve got my vitamins. I’ve started on my vitamin C already.

What will your friends and family say?
I can’t tell them yet because they get so excited and tell the world, but I’ve told my mum and she’s already building boards with my name written all over them. My boyfriend is just completely by my side and he just can’t wait, he’s looking forward to it. Although, he says he’s not holding a billboard up that says ‘please vote Hayley’, he says, ‘I’ll hold a flag that’s got your photo on it, but I’m not holding a billboard up’. I said, ‘you will’. He said, ‘I’m not, I can leave that to your mother’. Bless him. I love him.