A runner-up from this year's Britain's Got Talent has spoken of her shock after Sunday night's results were announced.
Lilliana Clifton from Dingle wowed the judges and audiences alike when she took to the stage. Making it all the way to the final two before being narrowly beaten by comedian Viggo Venn.
After Viggo was announced as the winner booing was heard from inside the studio. Lilliana, 13, told the ECHO: "It was a bit weird but I was just shocked by all the support I got and everything was just amazing. I was not upset that I didn't win because I never expected to be in the final in the first place."
Her dad Ray said that even though she did not win Lilliana will "always be their star".
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Lilliana lives with her dad Ray, mum, Vicky, and younger sister Lola, and said that she trains for hours everyday. However, her mum Vicky first introduced at her to dancing at four-years-old to help bring Lilliana out of her shell.
Ray, 43, said: "She is really shy and really humble even now. When she first started dancing, Lilliana used to hide behind her mum's legs and would not go into the class.
"She started dancing at a street dance class called Inferno which she still goes to now... And then when lockdown happened, that was when she really became the dancer she was and she started working with choreographers from all over the world."
Ray said after watching Lilliana in the semi-finals he would not have cared if she had made it to the final on Sunday (June 4). However, he said that his daughter's most impressive feat was learning a new dance routine in under 24 hours for the grand final.
He added: "She did not even have a routine this is what people don't realise, these is so much that goes on behind the scenes of the show. Britain's Got Talent sent a car for the choreographer Dane Bates. He got picked up at 5am on Saturday and drove to London.
"He met Lilliana at a hall where they could learn the dance to create the routine because all they had was the music. She actually learned her final dance in two and a half hours. Then to perform it live, which was like the best thing I've ever seen and the best feeling I've ever had besides my kids being born. It was amazing."
Lilliana said since her appearance on BGT, she has been treated like a local celebrity at her high school Bellerive FCJ and that her favorite judge was Bruno Tonioli who called her the "greatest dancer".
Lilliana said: "Everyone has been hugging me and congratulating me around the school it has just been amazing. It has been really nice because everyone has just been so supportive and behind me, it's lovely."
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