How panto gives you “that lovely family feeling wherever you are at Christmas" - X Factor star​

“As a little girl I always loved the magic and the tradition of panto and I did my first panto in my hometown in Billingham when I was about 21. I think the reason I just love doing it so much is that it gives you the Christmas spirit and it gives you that lovely family feeling wherever you are at Christmas. When you're doing panto, you could be miles away from home but you are in this lovely panto bubble with the rest of the cast. You spend so much time together as a group that you become great friends. And a lot of people from pantos I've been in are still great friends of mine now. It is intense but it is quite wonderful. You make lasting friends. You are in a group of people and there's always such a lot of energy. And also I'm just a big fan of dressing up. It is just so magical. As a child I always admired actors who were on stage on television and who were all dressed up and getting into character.”

For Amelia a key part of panto is the laughter: “It has got to be uplifting. I do think that the humour is just so important but I also love about panto the fact that there is a structure to it. You've got the ghost gag and the slush scene and you've also got good versus evil. You've got such a lovely balance of things.

“The only year I didn't do panto was during the pandemic and that was certainly not by choice. The pandemic was horrible for the whole world and I’m just grateful that we've been able to come out of it. The theatre industry was really really knocked by it but I do think we're getting back to normal and it's just lovely to be in the rehearsal room surrounded by like-minded people getting ready for a show.”

During the pandemic Amelia acquired some new skills: “I did a make-up course and I took up a lot of cooking and I got to spend time with my dogs which I don't usually because I'm always travelling. I tried to turn things to my advantage.” And yes, she feels different now: “I think as a person and as a performer you just try never to take anything for granted. So it's just so lovely back rehearsing again, and slowly but gradually I do think things are getting back to normal. A lot of theatres had to shut down but I think things are looking much better now.” As for this past year: “I moved back to London which was great. I was back up in the north during the pandemic but I'm now in London which is lovely.”

Amelia finished third on the eighth series of The X Factor in 2011, mentored by Kelly Rowland. Her debut single, You Bring Me Joy, was released in 2012 and reached number two on the UK singles chart. Since then, Amelia has taken the leading role in many West End musical and tours including playing Princess Fiona in the UK Tour of Shrek: The Musical, the Narrator in Joseph and his Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (UK Tour) and Whatsername in the West End premiere of Green Day’s hit punk rock musical American Idiot.