Britain's Got Talent star Hollie Steel is unrecognisable 14 years after she came sixth on the show.
Hollie was just 10 years old when she sang her heart out to the nation, impressing judges such as Simon Cowell and Amanda Holden.
She was one of the favourites to win the ITV talent show back in 2009, but things started to go wrong when she suffered a panic attack live on stage during the semi-finals.
In a series first, Simon allowed a distraught Hollie to start her performance of Edelweiss again after she was left sobbing when she “messed up”.
This led to her being put through to the finals. However the show was eventually won by dance group Diversity.
Lancashire-born Hollie is now 24 and looks very different to her Britain’s Got Talent days.
Since the show she has gone to release three albums and perform in huge venues like New York’s Carnegie Hall.
She was cast as Louisa von Trapp in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s UK tour of The Sound of Music.
Hollie then trained at college in London for three years, where she graduated with a Diploma in Musical Theatre in 2017.
Her career since then has mainly seen her perform on cruise ships, which allowed her to travel around the Caribbean.
She then starred as Frenchy in Grease on board Harmony of the Seas up until last year.
Britain’s Got Talent fans still remember Hollie from her TV days and she has amassed over 22,000 followers on Instagram alone.
She also has her own YouTube channel with 50,000 subscribers.
But since her appearance on the show, the singer has revealed she suffered with PTSD and had to have therapy to get over what happened on stage.
In a new interview with The Sun, Hollie shared she is still haunted by that BGT moment every time she walks on a stage.
She said: “I know I have a lot of trauma, even from 14 years ago. When I get on stage, sometimes I go back to that moment when I’m on TV and I’m about to have a panic attack.”
Hollie continued: “I’ve done a lot of therapy and counselling where I’m just like, ‘You need to breathe, you need to relax. You’re enjoying this. You’re fine’.
“I really had to delve deep to accept the panic attacks for what they are and just keep going through it all.”
Hollie’s experience on the show sparked a national debate over whether children should be allowed to audition for talent shows.
Late TV legend Bruce Forsyth even waded in saying: “To put little children through that kind of ordeal I think is wrong. Some poor little girl was crying her eyes out on there. I don’t think that’s entertainment.”
At the time Hollie, keen to further her career, disagreed with Bruce and is still thankful to the show for giving her lots of opportunities.
But with hindsight, she says there should be more laws about kids appearing on TV shows today.
Hollie revealed she was given no support when she appeared on the show or landed a record deal with Syco afterwards, despite her young age.
She recalled six months after the show ended she was signed to Simon Cowell’s record label and “wasn’t really allowed to do anything but what they said”.
She added she didn’t know what the process was now – as mental health is openly talked about a lot more – but she hoped it had improved.
“There needs to be a better way of supporting those kids because it does affect you mentally as you grow,” Hollie added.
A Britain’s Got Talent Spokesperson told the Mirror that 'duty of care to our contestants is of the utmost importance to us."
They added: "We take the welfare of anyone involved in our programmes extremely seriously and have thorough and robust measures in place to ensure everyone feels supported. These measures are under constant review and are adaptable to reflect the unique requirements for each series.”
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