22 April 2023 , 19:08
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A mum who posed as a Britain’s Got Talent hopeful to get her daughter to audition has spoken about being jailed over a £6,000 cannabis stash.
Claire Connolly tonight told show judges that 15-year-old Tia had changed her life – and the teen went on to wow
the panel with a rendition of Whitney Houston ’s I Didn’t Know My Own Strength.
Today, Claire, 33, is begging people to judge her girl on her talent, not her mother’s troubled past.
In an exclusive interview, she said: “I did go to prison and that’s something I have to live with – the stigma follows me around. Of course I’m sorry.
"At the time I was angry… angry at life. But I’m doing everything I can to make sure Tia doesn’t make the same mistakes I did.
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Tia and Claire on stage together (Tom Dymond/Thames)“I’ve tried to give my children the best chance – and I’m so proud that Tia is grabbing that chance with both hands.”
Claire, of Accrington, Lancs, was arrested in 2012 after cannabis was found in Celebrations tins at her home.
Tia wowed the panel of judges (Dymond/Thames/REX/Shutterstock)She was later jailed for 12 months for allowing her home to be used to supply drugs, as well as a second charge of affray for assaulting a woman in a drunken fight while on bail.
But she told how being a mum to Tia and Ayannah, nine, changed everything.
Ant & Dec and Alesha Dixon, Amanda Holden, Simon Cowell, Bruno Tonioli (ITV)Claire said: “Going to prison made me realise I needed to get away from my old life.
"Now my children are my life – and I want Tia to get the chance to shine.”