The Voice star Rachael O'Connor joins E4's Stage School

Racheal O'Connor. Photo: Nicky Johnston Pic courtesy of C4.

The Co Derry singer shot to fame on the hit show ‘The Voice’ in 2014 working alongside music sensation, Kylie Minogue, but didn’t make it to the final.

‘Stage School’ makes its debut on E4 tonight.

“It follows the lives of students and staff at the D&B Performing Arts Academy in London. It shows rehearsals, audition processes, the competitive nature between students and of course the dramas, which there is plenty of,” Rachael told the ‘Journal’.

“The show is a structured reality TV series. The only way I can describe it is ‘a real life Glee’ - perhaps with a bit more drama! I saw it described as’ Made in Chelsea meets Fame’, which I think sums it up well too. The people behind this made Pineapple Dance Studios, which was such a cult hit, so we’re keeping our fingers crossed that this goes down well too. ”

Rachael explained how she became involved, and how she is known as the “new girl” on the show.

“I got involved through Marvin Humes (The Voice UK Presenter). He is a former student at the school and he messaged me on Twitter to tell me about the school and their new reality show. From there it kind of just happened,” she said. “I’m the ‘new girl’ in the school so I’m introduced from the beginning. I’m hoping the show is successful and raises my profile again in the industry. The experience has been scary and emotional, as it was all so new and I had no idea what to expect. But, overall it’s been amazing and I’m so so grateful I’ve got this opportunity.”

In the meantime, Rachael said: “I’m still working on my own music and will be approaching the record labels in the near future so the bigger the following I have the more interested the labels will be. Each day is completely different. Some days I’m up early to go to D&B and film for the show. Others I could be off to an audition of some sort, and then I could be in a studio working with the writers to get my own music written and produced. And then there are always the days spent on Oxford street throwing my money away!”

Stage School airs week nights on E4 at 7.30PM, starting tonight.