Glasgow starring role for Blantyre girl who was a 'miracle baby'

“My mum SAYS she was a good singer when she was young,” she says, sceptically. “But I’m not sure I believe her…”

Nicola Harvie is unperturbed. “What do you mean?” she jokes, in the background, as Jessie-Lou laughs loudly. “I can do a good Kate Bush….”

Jessie-Lou Harvie (Image: Robert Perry/Newsquest)

Wherever her fantastic voice came from, this 12-year-old starlet from Blantyre has made the most of it, having blown away audiences online – her Tik Tok following is now a whopping 74k – impressed Simon Cowell, and dazzled audiences around Britain and Ireland with her performances in Les Miserables and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

It is with the latter she is performing in Glasgow this week, at the King’s Theatre. Jessie-Lou plays Charlie, who wins a golden ticket to visit Willy Wonka’s deliciously weird chocolate factory, meeting some interesting (and annoying) characters along the way.

“It’s been a roller-coaster,” says Jessie-Lou, in awe. “I’ve been rehearsing since last January, and performing since April, and I’ve stayed in lots of different places, which has been amazing.

“I’m really lucky, I mean, I’m just a wee girl from Blantyre. I have loved performing since I was six years old, but my first performance was when I was nine. I was a member of Stellar Performing Arts, and I saw an audition for the UK tour of Les Miserables.”

Jessie-Lou adds: “I just decided to try it. I got through all the rounds, and got the part of Little Cosette. I had to go to London to rehearse, and it was amazing. I made lots of friends.”

Away from the stage, Jessie-Lou also tried her hand at busking. A duet with her friend raised more than £800 for the STV Children’s Appeal.

“Then we got a video message from Simon Cowell and he matched the donation,” laughs Jessie-Lou. “That was surprising.”

Jessie-Lou says Charlie is her “dream-come-true” role, but is thoughtful when asked which other parts she’d like to play in the future.

“I love the musical Hamilton, so one day I’d like to maybe be in that,” she considers. “I’d also like to play Fantine in Les Miserables. For now I’m planning to concentrate on my singing, working with my vocal coach Robert Wishart.”

Jessie-Lou was always going to be a special girl, says her proud mum, Nicola.

“My journey to motherhood was not the easiest,” she says.

She pauses, adding with a smile: “This is actually not Jessie-Lou’s first time in the newspapers, she was featured at the age of just two weeks. She was our miracle baby.

“So this is all a bit magical, really.”

Nicola and her husband Tony lost two babies before Jessie-Lou was born. Sadly, Noah was stillborn at 20 weeks, Abigail at 18 weeks.

Doctors said Nicola needed a “bionic” cervix, a nylon stitch around the neck of her womb which would make it strong enough to carry a child full-term. She was the first Scottish woman to have the surgery, and it was a success.

Jessie-Lou’s run at the King’s has bittersweet significance for Nicola and Tony, as it marks what would have been Noah’s 15th birthday.

“I feel like some things are written in the stars,” says Nicola. “It is really emotional.

“We’re so proud of Jessie-Lou, she is amazing.

Nicola adds: “The teachers at her school, St John Ogilvie High in Hamilton, have been so supportive, helping her to make sure she keeps up with everything while she is travelling.

“It’s a lot for her, but it was an opportunity she couldn’t turn down. And she copes really well.”

She says, smiling: “She is actually one of the quietest girls in her school, I don’t know if many people really even knew she did this. This week in her home city is going to be a fantastic experience for her.”

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: The Musical is at the King’s Theatre until February 4.