A RUNCORN singing sensation is hoping to swap her supermarket job for a life of superstardom after TV judges decided she might have the X-factor.
Steph Wilson, who has worked at Asda Runcorn for a year, impressed Simon Cowell and his panel and was selected to go through to the boot camp stage of the ITV talent show.
But the demands of TV stardom are a long way from her last brush with fame – when she appeared on stage at the Liverpool Empire with her primary school.
Steph, of Cotton Lane, Halton Lodge, said: ‘I didn’t audition for the chance of fame and fortune.
‘It was just the fact that I might be able to sing for a living rather than swipe through somebody’s shopping.’
Steph, 21, is the eldest of four sisters. She went to Riverside College Halton before studying performance and drama at the University of Wales in Aberystwyth.
But it didn’t prepare her for coming face-to-face with Simon Cowell, Louis Walsh, Sharon Osbourne and Dannii Minogue.
Steph said: ‘It was horrible going in front of the judges. I got slated by them at first.
‘Usually I am quite outspoken but in front of them I couldn’t speak back.
‘It was only Simon on my side but I had already got three ‘no’s off the other judges.
‘When I went out of the room, the first thing they asked me on camera was: ‘How does it feel to know you have failed?’
‘I burst into tears – but a couple of minutes later, I was told I was going back in.
‘I walked in and Simon had a big smug look on his face. He said: ‘Dannii and Sharon have something to say to you.’ And they changed their minds and put me through. Simon must have said something pretty amazing.’
