A songwriter had his hopes of stardom dashed when he was forced to leave BBC One talent contest The Voice on Saturday.
Northchurch man Ricardo Afonso, 38, was in a singing battle against Mitchel Emms, 19, from Stafford, during the prime-time show.
Danny O’Donoghue, lead singer in Irish band The Script, had mentored the two men – but chose Mitchel over Ricardo as the winner. But Ricardo, who lives near The George and Dragon pub, said: “Danny is a great lad. He’s taught me a lot.”
Ricardo moved to the UK from Portugal in 2005 after dubbing Hollywood films into Portuguese for many years. He performed as the lead character in West End hit We Will Rock You for four years, but now hopes to make a living out of writing and singing his own songs.
> Turn to page seven to read about two people who were on Sunday’s Britain’s Got Talent.