Horndean woman strikes gold as Hawkstone Farmers Choir delivers ‘euphoric’ Britain’s Got Talent audition
Emotions were running high for a Horndean woman who struck gold after appearing on Britain’s Got Talent with Jeremy Clarkson’s farmers choir.
The Hawkstone Farmers Choir captivated millions over the weekend with their emotional Britain’s Got Talent audition, which left Amanda Holden in tears as she pressed the golden buzzer, placing them in the semi-final.
Amongst the group was Gwen Woodruffe, from Horndean, who became part of the group last year after a friend in Oxfordshire sent her an application to become part of a farmers choir.
She said: “I applied for it and it turned out it was for Clarkson’s Farm. You had to audition yourself and send it off, and I managed to get in and that’s how we became the Hawkstone Farmers Choir. The whole purpose was to advertise the beer and cider so we went up to Jeremy’s pub and ran through the songs which are a bit tongue in cheek. We recorded it in May and they got released in July.”
Taking to the stage with her “choir family”, the group had the audience enthralled with their moving performance of Elbow’s ‘One Day Like This’, which was praised by all four judges.
The mum-of-one, who works part-time at Butser Ancient Farm and Horndean Technology College, said the entire audition experience was “euphoric”, and is now manifesting the choir being crowned winners of the competition.
Mrs Woodruffe added: “We are straight through to the semi-finals and they will be in May but we don’t know the dates or what we’ll be singing at the moment. We really hope the public will get behind us and that we can get to the final. If we win, I think King Charles will absolutely love a bunch of farmers singing on stage at the Royal Variety show. That’s the dream. Why shouldn’t it be us?
“We've all agreed that if the unimaginable happens and we win this, we will donate the prize money to mental health charities for rural communities and farmers because we all know a farmer struggling and it’s desperately sad and we feel very passionate about helping.”
She told The News she has spent her life immersed in the agricultural world after growing up on a farm in Yorkshire, adding: “You can take the girl out of Yorkshire, but you can’t take Yorkshire out of the girl. I like to think I’m a farmer in my own right. It was only last week I was bottle feeding a lamb. I grew up on a farm, I went to agricultural college, I now run the Petersfield Young Farmers Club and my husband is a farmer, so I definitely see myself as a farmer.”
After keeping the news quiet for the past five months, the farmers congregated at a pub in the Cotswolds over the weekend to watch the audition back with their families, and were left in shock when Hampshire-born Amanda Holden turned up to join in the revelry.
Ms Woodruffe explained: “We weren’t allowed to tell anybody what had happened. We were allowed to tell people that we were on it four days before. Most of us were in a pub to watch it together and then Amanda Holden walked in. She was drinking champagne and I was drinking Hawkstone Cider and she asked if she could try some - it was surreal and really emotional watching it back. We all had our families with us so I had my husband and daughter with me.
“I feel really lucky that I get to stand with my choir family. It’s just so lovely to be part of this. When we started the audition, we knew we sounded good because we could hear ourselves but we didn’t know if people would like it and then the whole audience started cheering and it was just euphoric.
“Everyone in that choir has a connection to agriculture in one way or another. Some work on the fields 24/7, some work in the industry, some are married to farmers but everyone has a connection and love that way of life.”
If the Hawkstone Farmers Choir make it through the semi-finals, which will air in May, the group will go against the other finalists in a chance to win £250,000 and the opportunity to perform in front of King Charles III at the Royal Variety Performance.