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26
Jan
Harrogate singer to star on Michael McIntyre's Big Show
Harrogate singer Sarah Collins will be the unexpected star of Michael McIntyre's Big Show on primetime BBC One tomorrow (Saturday, January 27).
Funk and soul singer Sarah is already a viral sensation with her own YouTube channel and a nine-piece Motown band.
Tomorrow night she will be catapulted to a whole new level with her appearance in front of the nation.
Ms Collins said:
Sarah even sent her daughter to school in the morning but her grandparents were secretly waiting for her out of view and brought her down to London on the train after them.
She said:
The show will broadcast tomorrow on BBC One at 6.50pm. Sarah said she has watched the show before and that her “favourite bit was always the unexpected star, because it is all to do with singing".
She added:
Sarah began singing as a child by performing in musicals. Later she joined a rock band at 17 and moved to pop and began covering chart hits before discovering soul and funk.
A bump in the road came when her now husband Tom crashed into the back of her car. They later moved to Harrogate when she was 22.
She said she "loved the music scene" in Harrogate, but shortly after having her daughter in 2012 Sarah was diagnosed with a brain tumour.
Nobody knew if a full recovery would be possible. As a form of music therapy, her parents gifted her their vinyl records she grew up listening to.
Sarah Collins and Keep the Faith
She began a YouTube channel in 2014 as part of the therapy which now has 45,000 subscribers. She said:
Celebrities such as Billy Ocean, Matt Lucas, Paul Heaton and Candi Staton all took to social media in support of her.
She says she still uses the hashtag 'music therapy' to help others with their journey and says people with depression and dementia have reached out to thank her.
When Sarah recovered she put together the Motown, soul and party band, Keep the Faith, which performed worldwide until her mum became ill four years ago.
She said.
She said her performance on the Big Show has prepared her for singing again:
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