Britain’s Got Talent star Connie Talbot has shared her harrowing experience with an alleged stalker.
The 23-year-old singer gained fame as a runner-up on the first series of the ITV talent show in 2007.
Despite opportunities that came with being in the spotlight, Talbot shared a frightening ordeal involving a man allegedly posing as a journalist to get close to her.
She shared on the People Are Deep YouTube channel: “[Fame] exposed me to the darker sides of the world that probably a child wouldn’t hear of till later in life.
“We got approached by a journalist who was meant to work for a newspaper but it turned out that he was just interested in children.
“Luckily I was protected by my mum and dad but that was probably the first time I realised safety was a massive thing for me.”
The singer also recalled having a bodyguard with her while at school over security fears.
She continued: “I remember when I first got off the show, I had a bodyguard called Danny who was 6’10. He’d follow me to school every day, be with me on the playground.
“People would climb the trees outside my school to get a photo of a little girl in uniform which is just gross.
“I have two four-year-old nieces now and I would track down any person who had any kind of interest in them at that age.”
Talbot also revealed that many people assumed because she had been on BGT that she was “mega rich”.
“One big assumption is that because we were on television, we’re all mega rich,” she continued.
“People assume you make a lot of money because you’ve been on television but that’s definitely not the case.
“People I become friends with say, I thought you’d be a b***h but you’re nice. People think you’ll be stuck up.”
After her success on Britain’s Got Talent, Talbot released her debut album Over The Rainbow in November 2007.
The album achieved gold certification in the UK and went double platinum in South Korea.
