Mel Giedroyc might have had a starring role in ITV’s The Sound of Music Live last Christmas, but her singing and performing abilities weren’t always so strong.

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The presenter has revealed that she once auditioned for a part as one of the ‘comedy ladies’ in the Mamma Mia! musical – and the audition did not go to plan in the slightest.

“I’d never been to an audition before,” recalled Giedroyc to RadioTimes.com and other press. “I went along with a beatbox. I didn’t realise there would be a pianist with sheet music there, and they said ‘Have you brought your sheet music?’. Didn’t even know what sheet music was…

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“Anyway, put the beatbox on the floor, pressed play. It happened to have a Marc Bolon CD in it – a T. Rex Children of the Revolution. So I sang along to Children of the Revolution – and never heard from them again.

“It’s a pitiful fact about me, it’s a pitiful story.”

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The former presenter of The Great British Bake Off was speaking at the launch of new BBC1 talent TV show Let it Shine, which she co-hosts with Graham Norton.

The show is searching for five boys to play a band in a nationwide musical featuring the music of Take That and stars Gary Barlow, Dannii Minogue and Martin Kemp as judges.

“I am full of respect and admiration for those guys who go and do it properly, because they’re amazing,” added Giedroyc.

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Let it Shine starts Saturday January 7 at 7pm on BBC One.

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