BRITAIN'S GOT TALENT' CHILD STAR CONNIE TALBOT ON GROWING UP IN THE SPOTLIGHT AND ENTERING A NEW MUSICAL ERA

It has been 16 years since Connie Talbot captured the nation's hearts on Britain's Got Talent with her spine-tingling rendition of Over the Rainbow.

- EMILY HORAN

Striking a pose for the camera as she joins HELLO! for this exclusive interview and photoshoot to celebrate the release of her new music, the singer is almost unrecognisable from the gap-toothed youngster who was catapulted to fame at the tender age of six.

Connie's life changed overnight when she impressed music mogul Simon Cowell - who described her voice as "pure magic" - and his fellow judges Amanda Holden and Piers Morgan on the first series of the ITV talent show, making it all the way to the 2007 final before being pipped at the post by tenor Paul Potts.

A few months later, Connie released her first album Over the Rainbow, which sold out within hours, going gold in the UK and platinum in South-East Asia.

Now aged 22, Connie is all grown up and her unique upbringing in the music industry has inspired her new EP, Growing Pains - and she's even got two young nieces and a nephew to pass on her life lessons to.

"They're taking an interest in music and I'm being a protective auntie," she tells us. "One of my nieces looks just like me and she says: 'I want to sing like my Auntie Nie.'