Starstruck Black Country singer thankful for 'surreal' experience performing for Shania Twain

Michelle Jones from Wordsley had the eyes of the nation on her on Saturday evening when she appeared on ITV's Starstruck.

The 34-year-old, who has been performing professionally for 10 years as Michelle Williams, was part of a trio of female singers who were dressed as and performed as Fleetwood Mac singer Stevie Nicks, singing Edge of Seventeen on the popular show.

Michelle, along with Holly Morgan and Hattie Chandler, were praised by judges Beverley Knight, Adam Lambert, Jason Manford and Michelle's own personal hero Shania Twain, and only narrowly missed out on progressing to the next stage.

She said it had been hard not to gush about how much she loved Shania Twain and said she had to hold back her fan-girl feelings.

She said: "I really wanted to shout how much I loved her over and over again as I was standing there and she was talking to us, and you're just really taken aback and it feels just so surreal.

"I'm just grateful that I got to get on that stage and perform in front of my idol and I did get the chance to blow a few kisses and put my hands over my heart to say 'I love you' to her."

The journey for her to get to Starstruck had been a long one, with Michelle saying that she had applied for a number of television shows in the past, including The X-Factor, while making her living as a wedding and party singer.

She said she had been putting her children Eva and Archie to bed in April 2022 when she decided to "just go for it", putting in her application along with two videos of her singing, and received the call which began the journey a few days later.

She said: "I got a call from the producers, who said they wanted to talk to me about my application, then did a number of auditions over the next few months over Zoom, including one where I was singing different parts of two songs of my choice.

"I was also asked who I would like to be on the show, as you're performing as someone else, and I thought I'd done well overall and then they called me to saw they loved my audition and could I come to a creative day in Manchester.

"I went along and they really loved my Shania Twain and my Stevie Nicks and told me they could hear both in my voice, so I did a few songs as Stevie Nicks and they called me later to say they'd shortlisted me as her, along with three other girls."

Michelle said she had screamed with delight when she found out she was going to be on the show and said that most people said her performing as Stevie Nicks was a natural fit, even though she thought she'd be performing as a different character.

She said: "When I was shortlisted, it was as Shania Twain, but they told me they could hear Stevie Nicks in my voice and when I've told people about this, they said they could really hear it, including my husband Joseph.

"When I first applied, I didn't think about it and then it just kept getting further and further along and, suddenly, I'm in Manchester and I'm in London and then we were at Bovingdon Studios for five days and doing our tunnel transformations."

Filming for the show took place on September 15, with workshop days and preparation beforehand and filming sessions for hair and make up and wardrobe fittings.

Michelle said she hadn't known at the time that Shania Twain was going to be a judge, which had been a shock to her, but once she was out there with Holly and Hattie, she drew strength from her family being there.

She said: "Once I found out Shania was a judge, I was shocked as I don't know if I could have performed as her in front of her, but she is also friends with Stevie Nicks and said she would have loved to hear us singing her song.

"When it was being recorded, we were all backstage while Beverley was performing her opening song and you have all these make-up artists making you look like a star and it was just amazing and a bit surreal.

"You get the chance to watch your VT before you go on and that was also surreal as you're watching it backstage on a little monitor and my husband and kids were seeing it on a big screen and just getting to see them gave me the strength to go out there and give it my all."

Michelle said the experience was one she would cherish forever and said she had received so many nice messages, plus a lot of good and positive feedback on the show from the judges.

She said: "It's been amazing and I've had so many messages from people, including lots that I don't know, telling me how they thought I was going to win and being really nice, and everyone who went on that show deserved to be there.

"It's hard getting up there and being someone else, especially being someone I've never done before as I know I've done lots more Shania Twain than I would have Stevie Nicks, but we got such lovely comments and it was wonderful to be up there trying something different.

"Being on the show has done me the world of good as on my social media channels, I usually do a lot of country ballads and people don't hear enough of my rocky side, so doing more Stevie Nicks will really help me at weddings and parties.

"People have been shocked as they never thought in a million years that I'd be Stevie Nicks, so it might open more doors for me to do a tribute act or being in a band and it's just been a great experience all around."

To watch the episode of Starstruck, go to itv.com/watch/starstruck/10a1263.

To find out more about Michelle, go to michellewilliamsmusic.co.uk or her Facebook page at facebook.com/MichelleWilliamsMusic/.