The audition audiences loved Britain’s Got Talent duo 2 Grand, and their performance of the Disney movie soundtrack song, A Whole New World.
The pairing – comprising 12 year-old granddaughter Sallie and 76 year-old granddad John from Doncaster – were over the moon with the response they got from both the crowd and the judges.
And John has his sights firmly set on the pair securing an audience with the Queen.
“To sing for the Royal Family would be out of this world, absolutely. It would be the icing on the cake”.
He told us, “A place at the Royal Variety Performance would be a dream come true – and an amazing thing for me”.
And such an event would bring John’s life full-circle, as he spent his early years as a soldier. What was his job? Guarding the Queen!
He told us, “I was in the Royal Horse guards – the Household Cavalry”.
“I did all the training at Windsor and I loved it – ended up as an army PT instructor”.
“I used to see Princess Margaret when she was young – she was small and lovely like a little doll”.
“And yes, I saw her sister – the Queen – sometimes too”.
John and Sallie are part of a family showbiz tradition, which began when John’s mother and father were an important part of Sheffield’s theatre community.
John explained, “Me mam and dad boarded all the stars from the theatres who came to Sheffield, to play in the Hippodrome and other places”.
“Music hall legend Gracie Fields stayed in our house, and many others. My sister has three diaries thick with autographs, and photographs too”.
Life in the army also brought a boxing career, where he won the British Forces Welterweight Championships in Germany in 1951 as well as two prestigious fights at the Royal Albert Hall.
On returning to his first love of singing, his place in a male voice choir brought the opportunity to sing with international stars.
Says Sallie, “I grew up hearing about all the jobs my granddad’s done in the past, and singing with Shirley Bassett and Lesley Garrett”.
Now as the biggest stage in the world beckons, and with a duet partner second to none, John is excited.
“If we get through to the next round, we will put every effort into doing well”.
“We can’t make it any better that we did this time; we went down a real bomb”.
“We’ll just try to pick a nice song – and put plenty of puff behind it!”