Barlow superfan from Walsall in social media campaign inviting Gary to her wedding

But what started as a pipe dream for Rachel Hitchen has now picked up enough momentum that it could actually become a reality.

Rachel and her fiance, Scott Peebles, began an almost tongue-in-cheek campaign to get the former Take That star to appear at their big day in September.

Since the idea formed in their head the hashtag #Garybeourguest2ndsept2016 has gone viral – and even Barlow has admitted on camera to following the campaign's growth with avid interest.

Rachel, aged 34, from Charles Crescent in Pelsall, Walsall, said the singer had helped her through some tough trials during her life with his lyrics, and also with his compassion when they had met face-to-face later in life.

The mother-of-one, whose son, Thomas, is now 14, went through some difficult times when her father died and her son's father left when she was a young mother.

Fast-forward a few years and she is now preparing to marry the love of her life, Scott, aged 32, who has encouraged her to travel the country to watch her idol perform as a solo artist and most recently in the play, Girls.

"I have loved Gary from the start and like most fans I always wanted him to one day sing for just me," said Rachel, who will marry Scott in Cannock on September 2.

"When I met Scott and got engaged I told him how much I would love Gary Barlow to come to our wedding.

"We started our campaign last year and since then I've just been following his tours, trying to get to as many of his gigs as possible.

"I was so down and quite shy at points in my life.

"My confidence was completely gone but now I can travel down to London on my own, which is something that would never have crossed my mind before.

"Since meeting Scott he has really brought me out of my shell and I have also travelled to Leeds and Manchester."

Rachel's persistence has paid off too because Barlow himself has already signed her official 'Garybeourguest2ndsept2016' banner and posed in numerous photos with the bride-to-be. "Gary said he'd seen our campaign on Twitter so he's definitely aware of it," she said.

"Some of his fans have also been making their own banners, taking them abroad and sending pictures to our Facebook page.

"We know if he does turn up it will be a surprise but if he's going to let anyone know it would probably be my fiance first because he handles the Twitter side of things.

"I haven't been abroad yet to see him perform because I haven't got the confidence to get on a plane but that's next on the list.

"Gary's motto has always that if you want it, you need to go and get it.

"It still makes me feel emotional when I hear him sing because he helped me become such a stronger person. I never thought I would be the type of person to travel all the way to London on my own to see him but I did it."

Rachel's latest encounter with her idol was on Thursday after she won tickets to see the new Eddie the Eagle film.

Barlow released a 'supergroup' album featuring a host of stars from the Eighties after being asked by the film's director, Matthew Vaughn, to put together the soundtrack for movie, which is due out next month.

"It was great to see Gary again and the whole film premiere and launch party was great," said Rachel.

"The wedding banner continues to travel round the country to different gigs and has even been to Milan and Dubai. It will soon be making its way to New York and we have celebrities retweeting our tweets to Gary as well.

"We also private message him on Twitter and he follows us on there to.

"Scott has been round London taking various selfies with our banner and our Facebook page has lots of videos of celebrity endorsements."

Among those to have backed the campaign include X Factor's Stevi Ritchie, model and Big Brother contestant Lauren Carre and singer songwriter Ben Montague.

Rachel added: "We have six months left to campaign and need new challenges.

"We will welcome any support or ideas on our Facebook and Twitter pages."

With a little over five months left until the couple's big day, romantics will be keeping one very interested eye on Twitter to see what happens.