Image on left: Permission given by source. Image on right: Chris McKenna, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Having won over the hearts of the nation two Salford residents, and Britain’s Got Talent favourites, have been raising money for the NHS.
Katherine O’Malley, 36, and Joe O’Malley, 59, are a married couple from Salford. They met each other when Katherine was busking and their friendship soon blossomed.
When the pair discovered a passion for performing together, they decided to enter Britain’s Got Talent.
The performers have been contestants on the show for the past three years and despite being unable to impress Simon Cowell, Katherine and Joe have always won over Judges, Amanda Holden and David Walliams.
Their Disney-themed performances have also always received a positive reaction from the audience.
“We just really enjoyed it so we wanted to go back and we got further and further each time.” Katherine said.
This year, they reached the semi-finals and performed on the live shows before they were sent home.
Katherine said, “I kind of missed Simon being there [at the semi-finals] as obviously he’d hurt his back.”
Joe agreed and added, “With Simon, it’s more or less a challenge really, he’s the one you have to impress.”
During the pandemic, they used their theatrical abilities to cheer up their community in Salford whilst raising some money for the NHS.
Katherine said, “I’d seen on the news that people were coming out and performing during the clap for carers and we thought ‘let’s do that because we have the equipment, let’s make people happy and build a bit of atmosphere’
“It was really good.”
The part-time Disney princess explained that they ‘got to know the neighbours– socially distanced obviously’ and how they felt like they had cheered people up.
Katherine and Joe raised money for the NHS Covid-19 appeal by fundraising with ‘JustGiving’ online and they also had a bucket for people to put small donations in whilst they both performed during the weekly national clapping.
These performances were a medley of Disney-inspired acts and Katherine’s renditions of many popular songs.
They were successful in getting many people out of their front doors every Thursday to have a dance.
Despite restrictions being in place, this particular street in Salford seemed to be united again in the midst of what has been a very isolating time.
Katherine and Joe raised approximately £200 for the NHS in its most demanding time.
Since their exit from Britain’s Got Talent, and due to having to adhere to Coronavirus restrictions, the Salford superstars are now offering online party bookings, personalised video messages, and online performances for their fans.
However, they both revealed they are excited to get back to performing live and busking all around the country together again soon.
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