Geordie Shore star Abbie Holborn has unveiled that her father Craig Holborn had known Simon Cowell “for years” before he had auditioned for Britain’s Got Talent.
The 24-year-old bombshell, who recently started her own clothing range Festi Girl, explained that the ITV judge and her dad’s relationship began “ten years” before he took to the stage.
Fans of the talent scout programme may recall Craig’s audition from 2017 which saw him join forces with three other band members – calling themselves The Boyz.
They performed a rendition of Backstreet Boys’ hit Everybody (Backstreets Back).
At the time, his audition was heavily criticised by fans and his pal of over a decade, head judge Simon.
While The Boyz didn’t turn out to be everyone’s cup of tea, Alesha Dixon, David Walliams and Amanda Holden all voted to send the group through to the next round.
(Image: abbieholborn/Instagram)
In an exclusive interview with Daily Star, the Hits 1 Radio DJ explained that there wasn’t any bad blood between Simon and her dad – despite the music moguls negative comments.
She said: “I think he [her dad] and Simon actually knew each other because my dad auditioned on The X Factor on his own and he actually got through to the judges houses.
“This was ten years ago.”
(Image: ITV)
Abbie hadn’t realised at the time that her dad’s audition would have escalated as much as it.
She added: “I was actually in the house filming so other than what came through on my phone I couldn’t see it or anything.”
“There were just so many articles. To be honest I wasn’t really expecting it.”
The reality TV star revealed she’d actually missed her dad’s debut on the programme as she’d not long joined the Geordie Shore cast and had no access to her phone or internet while filming.
(Image: ITV)
The radio host added: “I think I was quite new on the show at the time so I just remember getting my phone back and I was like ‘oh my god it’s going off’.
“I didn’t expect it because I was like, ‘it was just me dad’ but then I was like ‘oh god people are interested’.
Although she was unable to watch the ITV programme as it went live, her dad had kept her in the know about his plans to take to stage with his three co-stars.
(Image: ITV)
Abbie continued: “I knew he was going on and what time and everything but I didn’t realise how big the aftermath could be.”
While the audition should have been an exciting time for the family, the backlash ended up weighing heavy on Abbie who felt protective of her father.
Speaking about her dad being on the show she told us: “It was quite hard to be honest because I felt like I added to the hype being in the limelight and I’d had my fair share of trolling and people saying things but at the same time it did feel nice.
(Image: FARRELL / BACKGRID)
“To see someone else in the family getting it, when they don’t deserve it, it did make me a bit nervous. I didn’t want anyone to say anything bad but then people always do.”
Meanwhile, in spite of the tough times for many retailers after lockdown, Abbie has recently unveiled her new affordable clothing range that will appeal to anyone looking to glam up over the festival summer period.
Abbie had noticed a gap in the market when it came to festival wear and decided to put her idea into practice with that launch of Festi Girl.
Shopper’s can expect to bag a steal over on Abbie’s new site with some dresses retailing at just £10.
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
