Britain’s Got Talent child star reveals she’s engaged – sixteen years after performance that sparked Ofcom complaints
AN iconic former Britain’s Got Talent child star is all grown up – after getting engaged.
Hollie Steel won hearts when she broke down in tears during the BGT live shows in 2009 aged 10 – sparking a national debate about whether youngsters should be allowed to perform on the show.
Sixteen years on Hollie, now 26 and a pro-singer, has also won the heart of Daniil Kiryakov, with the pair set to tie the knot after sharing a string of loved-up proposal photos online.
Daniil popped the question last December, and Hollie shared engagement snaps including a close-up on her diamond ring.
Captioning the photos with a ring emoji, the star, from Burnley, Lancs., wrote: “I said yes! Can’t wait to spend the rest of our lives growing together.”
Daniil is an ice skater with cruise company Royal Caribbean International and hails from Pervouralski in Russia’s Sverdlovsk Oblast.
They couple have appeared in photos online together since 2023, when Daniil shared a pic of him and Hollie in a convertible, gushing: “Always happy when she is there.”
Fans have rushed to congratulate the singer on her upcoming nuptials. One wrote: “Congratulations Hollie! I have been watching you since you were a little girl and now this is a huge milestone!”
Another added: “You deserve all the love in the world.”
It comes more than a decade after Hollie’s infamous BGT performance in the third series of the ITV talent show – where she was tipped amongst favourites to win after wowing the judges with her vocals during auditions.
However, during the semi-finals the youngster suffered a panic attack and burst into tears onstage, leaving her unable to perform her rendition of Edelweiss.
The heart-wrenching moment sparked hundreds of Ofcom complaints over the immense pressure she was put under.
Judge Simon Cowell let Hollie perform at the end of the show, calling her “the bravest girl in the world.”
She went through to the finals and finished the competition in sixth place, with dance troupe Diversity winning the competition and Susan Boyle coming in second.
It was BGT’s most-watched series, attracting an average of 13.3million viewers – more than double the 5.5million who tuned in to watch the launch of the current series last month.
Speaking on Lorraine in 2019, Hollie explained why she was so emotional, telling how she had been nervous and didn’t have her mum backstage.
She also said that someone backstage told her: “There are 50 million people watching, don’t mess it up.”
The singer, who has since released three albums and starred in the West End, told The Sun in 2023 that she’d had therapy and had “trauma” after appearing on the show.
“When I get on stage, sometimes I go back to that moment when I’m on TV and I’m about to have a panic attack,” she said.
“I’ve done a lot of therapy and counselling where I’m just like, ‘You need to breathe, you need to relax. You’re enjoying this. You’re fine’.”