Loose Women talk ‘Britain Get Singing Christmas champions’
On Christmas Eve, Loose Women were crowned Britain Get Singing Christmas champions with their emotional performance of the Simon and Garfunkel classic, Bridge Over Troubled Water.
During today’s episode, Coleen Nolan, Denise Welch, Kelle Bryan and Brenda Edwards discussed the win with Kaye Adams, who complimented her fellow panellists: “One of my festive highlights was seeing you compete in ITV’s big singing show, Britain Get Singing… It was goosebumps time, it was wonderful.”
Coleen explained: “It was just incredible. I mean, we all got asked to do it and we’re all a bit nervous and you know, it was a show called Britain Get Singing – part of the Britain Get Talking campaign.
“So there was Coronation Street, Emmerdale, Love Island, The Chase – everyone involved had put these choirs together and they asked us. So there was me, Denise, Kelle, Judi [Love] and Brenda… and nanny Linda [Robson]. How could we forget nanny Linda!”
Talking to Brenda via video call, Kaye said: “Listen, each and every one of you was magnificent but I have to say to you, Brenda, honestly you were just so outstanding. I mean you’ve got a fantastic voice, a brilliant performer but Brenda after the year that you’ve had, oh my goodness that was just incredible, so powerful, it really was.”
Brenda replied: “Just listening to that there, I’ve got goose pimples. I had goose pimples all over my body, it literally took me right back there to that day. The nerves that were with everybody, but that was such an overwhelming, exciting experience. It really, really was.”
Opening up on their song choice Brenda said: “We all kind of got together you know, we had a couple of options. They gave us a couple of options. We all decided that that [Bridge Over Troubled Water] was a really nice song and I love that song because it’s a song that my family all sing, I say at funerals or you know, at church and everything, so it’s very poignant.
“We picked the song and I was fine with it and then singing it, the words, kind of, yeah, they got me very emotional. It got all of us very emotional. We were a babbling mess, if I can just say.”
Denise added: “It was my dad’s favourite song as well so that obviously meant something but when Brenda had told her story, I mean, there wasn’t a dry eye. I think we thought it would be nerve-racking, but I don’t think we expected the power of the emotion that we felt when we walked on the stage.
“It was nerve-racking, you know, there was will.i.am, Adam Lambert, Alesha Dixon and Jason Manford. It was a sort of big thing and little did we know the competition was huge. You know, I mean, Corrie had Jodie Prenger and Emmerdale had a brilliant choir.”
Discussing her nerves, Brenda revealed: “Well, I literally said I had to put Vaseline on my teeth because I got so nervous. My lips stuck to my teeth!”
Coleen said: “One thing that I did never realise Brenda was actually, I mean we were all nervous and we were all emotional, but Brenda, you were really, really nervous like all day.
“I know a lot of that was the emotion and you were worried about breaking down and all of those things but she was genuinely… she came in and went, ‘I’ve just watched Emmerdale’s rehearsal, we may as well all go home!'”
Denise added: “When Corrie arrived and she saw Jodie Prenger, she was going, ‘Oh for god’s sake’.” Laughing, Brenda explained: “You know, you’ve got West End royalty!”
Sharing her experience, Kelle said: “No one gave me the memo. I was shooting a drama at the same time so I came in a little bit later. No one gave me the memo. I got in and on stage, like, ‘Erm hello, there’s Alesha Dixon and will.i.am?‘ I was like ‘what’s going on?!’.
“So yes, I was very, very surprised but it was wonderful to be there with the girls. The emotion that happened on that evening, it will never be recreated and the audience were really with us.”
Catch up on Britain Gets Singing on ITVX now. Loose Women airs weekdays from 12:30pm on ITV1 & ITVX
