Who is Jonnie Halliwell? Let It Shine contestant profile

From: Rotherham

Sings: Reet Petite by Jackie Wilson

Job: Professional performer and ice cream seller

Jonnie Halliwell bursts onto the stage thinking that he “got maybe something to give to it” – and that he does. His rendition of Jackie Wilson’s Reet Petite had Dannii Minogue saying “that was so fine”, and even Martin Kemp saying that he should be in the band.

Jonnie reveals that he has performed in the West End in a production of White Christmas, but that “it’s a difficult game, to stay as a regular entertainer”. He’s also found himself selling ice creams in theatres during the interval to theatregoers.

Jonnie is professionally known as Jonathan Halliwell and is looked after by CAM (Creative Artists Management). He’s a graduate of Mountview Academy of Arts – an independent drama school in north London and in 2013 he won the Ian Fleming Musical Theatre Award – a nationwide competition for musical theatre students.

He was part of the principle cast in White Christmas at the Dominion Theatre, while he also took the lead role of Aladdin at the Lyceum Theatre in Sheffield in their Christmas 2015 production of the pantomime.

Let it Shine continues on Saturday 14 January at 7pm on BBC One