The 2024 BGT winner talks life after the show and the challenges she faced trying to break into the West End ahead of the release of her debut album.

After years of stepping out on stage in character, Kent’s Sydnie Christmas took on one of her most daring roles yet earlier this year when she auditioned for Britain’s Got Talent being her authentic self. “I remember before going on looking in the mirror behind the stage and being like ‘Just be yourself. This is scary because you’re not being a character. You haven’t got a script. Just don’t think about it. Just be yourself’,” the singer, 29, recalls.

“And I just trusted myself to just not think about it and just go on and play it by ear. And I’m so glad I did.” Sydnie first dazzled the judges with her bubbly personality, cracking jokes from the outset, before stunning them with her powerful vocals.

Not only did notoriously hard-to-please Cowell confirm she had won him over, but fellow judge Amanda Holden branded it the “best version” of the song she had ever heard before awarding her a golden buzzer. The dream did not end there for Sydnie as she sailed through to the semi-final with her powerhouse rendition of Frank Sinatra’s My Way, landing her a spot in the final.

Her show-stopping performance of the classic Somewhere Over The Rainbow secured her the Britain’s Got Talent crown, the £250,000 prize pot and a spot on the bill at the Royal Variety Performance. During her audition, she revealed her dream was to perform in the West End after trying to get her foot through the door for years.

After studying at the D&B Academy of Performing Arts in Bromley, the Kent-born singer made her “off West End” London stage debut in the musical Lazarus, featuring the music of David Bowie. She also had stints on cruise ships where she performed in productions such as Grease, as well as featuring in Starlight Express in Bochum, Germany.

Sydnie saw the ITV competition as one of her final chances, having experienced a run of unsuccessful auditions. “I wanted to be in the West End, I wanted to be close to my family, and they just weren’t letting me. It was just ridiculous,” she says.

“And I’m not the only one, there is loads of us… you have to try and work your way in. And you know what? On the grand scheme of things, there are so many of us wanting this one dream, and there’s not enough space for everyone. She hasn’t given up on the hope of performing in a West End production one day, but for now she is doing things her own way.