Neighbours star Bonnie Anderson has revealed her performance on last night’s Britain’s Got Talent: The Champions was inspired by her Scottish granny from Galashiels.
Bonnie, 25, who plays Ramsay Street’s car mechanic Bea Nilsson, is the latest in a long line of singing stars who found fame on the Australian soap opera.
But she admits her family, especially her grandmother Catherine Lee, were a huge influence on her.
Bonnie said: “My grandmother and grandfather emigrated to Australia. My aunts and my uncle on my mother’s side were all born in Scotland but, unluckily for my mother, she was born in Australia.
“My granny’s maiden name was Medine. She lived in the Borders.
“She used to try to teach me Scottish country dancing. She did the sword dance and had many stories about being a champion.
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“My granny was a fine singer and I loved to listen to her. She inspired me to sing and taught me how to sing along to songs on the radio.”
Bonnie said her name was also a nod to her roots.
She said: “Grandpa’s last name was Lee and he grew up in Beith so we pride ourselves on being Scottish. His mum was a cabaret singer in Scotland.
“My granny always says proudly that I’m an Aussie with some Scottish blood running through my veins and my mum named me after the Scottish word, Bonnie.”
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The singer was eligible to take part in BGT: The Champions because she won Australia’s Got Talent in 2007 when she was 12.
Despite the triumph, she turned her back on lucrative record deals and went back to school.
Bonnie said: “I kicked things off when I was 12 on Australia’s Got Talent. I was being offered management contracts and record labels were coming at me. It was full-on.
“But I went back to school and worked part-time in a bakery washing dishes because I didn’t want to be a manufactured pop star. It was confusing but my family were cool. They knew how much my music meant to me.
“I had grown up with soul music listening to Sam Cooke and Aretha and the records the labels wanted me to put out weren’t that.
“It was amazing. It was my first experience showing my crazy side to the world. It cemented what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.
“I took time to start writing songs and gigging and spending more time with musical people and honing my craft.”
Having recently signed to label BMG, Bonnie has relaunched her music career with the full backing of the Neighbours producers.
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They even wrote her performance of her recent single Sorry into the storyline and have given her time out from the current series to come to the UK in an attempt to win the BGT champions’ crown.
Bonnie said: “It’s been a journey. In my spare time, I wrote songs and toured and I tried to learn as I went along, which has brought me to releasing my singles and the chance to come to Scotland.
“I put my first record out when I was 17. I wanted to take the time and work hard to have longevity in music.”
Bonnie found a useful mentor in Glasgow-born rocker Jimmy Barnes, who found fame in Australia with the band Cold Chisel and is one of Australia’s biggest-selling musicians.
Bonnie said: “Jimmy took me under his wing. He pushed and pushed when he was younger and I took a leaf out of his book. I went on tour with him when I was 13 and went all over Australia.
“Mum didn’t come with me but my sister gave up work for a few weeks and travelled with me.
“You can’t learn from a book. You have to be on the road. It was an experience with all the roadies that I’ll never forget.”
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The star added: “I have an Aboriginal godfather. I used to say as a kid that I was half-Australian, half-Aboriginal and half-Scottish. I was a bit hopeless in maths because, instead of doing my two plus two, I’d be writing songs. I got into a bit of trouble. Maths is not my strong point.”
Her new bid for fame comes just weeks after a judge in Australia criticised her for lying to police in 2017 to protect a drug addict ex-boyfriend.
Bonnie had told officers Matt Arnautovic – son of a convicted Aussie drug baron – had been with her after he fled from police in her car at 3am.
But she was granted a good behaviour bond, meaning she escaped conviction. The singer split up with Arnautovic shortly after and is now dating Australian rugby player Jordan Simi.
Bonnie is fully aware she is following in the footsteps of former residents of Ramsay Street such as Kylie Minogue and Natalie Imbruglia by becoming a pop star.
She said: “I met Kylie before Neighbours because my brother is a roadie and was working with her. That was really exciting.
“It would be cool to meet her now since being on Neighbours. I have a lot of respect for Kylie.”
Bonnie hopes to line up a UK tour that will bring her to Scotland.
She added: “I adore Scotland. I have a lot of family there so I’m dying to get over there.”
