WATCH: Britain's Got Talent ovation for Kensworth singing star Ronan

An opera singer who fell out of love with the profession five years ago, made a memorable comeback at the weekend when he received a standing ovation on ITV's Britain's Got Talent.
Ronan Busfield on Britain's Got Talent.. ITV PICTURESRonan Busfield on Britain's Got Talent.. ITV PICTURES
Ronan Busfield on Britain's Got Talent.. ITV PICTURES

After shuffling nervously onto the stage, Ronan Busfield, 33, from Kensworth, had the audience and judges on their feet as he belted out Maria from West Side Story.

Speaking to this website today, Ronan revealed that the audition which was screened on Saturday evening, actually took place on a Sunday in January at the London Palladium and had been a long and exhausting day as he and his wife had had their 12-month-old son in tow.

Until the screening he’s had to keep his participation a closely guarded secret from friends, and work colleagues at Tesco HQ in Welwyn Garden City where he works as an HR administrator.

Ronan Busfield... ITV PICTURESRonan Busfield... ITV PICTURES
Ronan Busfield... ITV PICTURES

“I went into work the next day at 8.30am and they asked me how was my weekend... and I said ‘it was ok’ and I was thinking about the ovation I had just had!”

Ronan revealed that growing up he had no ambition to be a singer. “I studied music at uni, but I was going to join the police force.”

But he applied to work for the Choir of St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, adding: “It was an amazing job, I did it for five years, but it’s a long time in any job and I was told my voice was better suited to the stage than being in a choir.”

He then moved to Glasgow where he trained in the music college for two years, before working for different opera companies around the UK for five years.

Judges David Walliams, Alesha Dixon, Simon Cowell and Amanda Holden.

 ITV PICTURESJudges David Walliams, Alesha Dixon, Simon Cowell and Amanda Holden.

 ITV PICTURES
Judges David Walliams, Alesha Dixon, Simon Cowell and Amanda Holden. ITV PICTURES

But he fell out of love with the singing following the unexpected death of his father, aged 60, in 2013. Three months later he got married.

He recalled: “At this time the industry was facing difficulties, it was being financially pinched and it was oversubscribed for singers.

“I was a self-employed singer and I felt squeezed emotinally and financially and I had a lot of cancellations. I began to hate the job and I became bitter of others’ success. I fell out of love with it, and it made me reassess my life.”

But time is a great healer and recently Ronan has slowly began to build up his singing again.

He said: “Britain’s Got Talent is something I always wanted to go on, but I never felt I was ready. I began to retrain to get to the standard and my wife has been incredibly supportive.

“The stage is enormous and I had to find this tiny star to stand on. I just wanted to be genuine, just be me, walk on with a smile and remain modest. You just never know how it is going to go. The song has a quiet start and I thought one of the judges might buzz in straight away, but it worked out ok.”

In fact it was more than ‘ok’ as he had the judges purring and earneed four yeses.

David Walliams said: “Someone won’t be going back to Tesco! Amazing. I couldn’t fault it at all.”

Amanda Holden said: “I love it when we have people like you who shuffle on and then have a voice like this.”

And Simon Cowell added: “I just didn’t expect it to come from you. It was passionate, believable. I think people will root for you.”

Since the show went out, Ronan has been blown away by the feedback received.

“The reaction has been overwhelmingly positive. It’s been an incredible experience and a privilege to have so much praise in a way I never expected to happen.”

As the Britain’s Got Talent auditions near their conclusion the judges will soon be deciding which acts to take forward to the live semi-finals. So keep your eyes peeled for Ronan once more in the next couple of weeks!

See his audition at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTPqOuJJJ3E> Britain’s Got Talent is screened on Saturdays, 8pm, on ITV1.

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