‘Peppa’ girl is the next PIG thing
NO PORKIES…FREYA’S A REAL-LIFE STAR
THE “real-life Peppa Pig” is trotting up the music charts.
Freya Ridings’ actor father Richard provides the voice of Daddy Pig in the cartoons.
Now his girl is set to be as big a name as his screen daughter after her single Lost Without You made the top 10.
The tune – already a favourite with Taylor Swift – gained huge exposure after it was played on Love Island in July.
Freya’s song was used for the emotional scenes where Laura Anderson was dumped by Jack Fowler.
Viewers saw sobbing Laura pouring her heart out as the break-up ballad played in the background.
Love Island fans scrambled to discover more about Freya and her track before downloading it millions of times. Freya, 24, said: “I had literally no idea I was going to be on the show.
“I got all these messages from my friends freaking out, going ‘you’re on Love Island’.
“I love the show so much, I couldn’t believe they actually used it. A friend of mine sent the song in a long time ago and we had no idea if they wanted to use it or not.
“I think they said they liked it but ‘we might not’ so I had no expectations at all. I still can’t really get over it because I love the show so much.”
Little did fans know the voice behind the tune belonged to the daughter of one of the most famous cartoon characters in the UK.
Freya said of her dad’s Peppa Pig fame: “I had no idea it had got to be so huge. At the beginning it was this small TV show and no-one knew what it was. It’s suddenly over the last couple of years grown into this empire, and he’s part of it.
“It’s so touching to see the reaction of little kids – it’s like a superpower. I feel so lucky to have a dad that does that.”
The redhead, from north London, is already being hailed as “the next Adele” after becoming the only female in more than six years to write her own top 10 hit.
The last time it happened was in 2012 when a re-release of Kate Bush’s Running Up That Hill reached No.6.
Freya was taught guitar by her dad.
She taught herself to sing aged nine and plays everything by ear because she cannot read music.
Freya said: “I was so dyslexic at school I really struggled academically with reading and to play writing – I was so bad. I couldn’t read music and all my music teachers gave up on me one by one. So I had to basically write my own songs because no-one else would teach me.
“At the time I thought it was a great weakness and I now I look back and I’m so grateful for that.”
She posted an Instagram tribute to Richard in September, saying: “Happy 60th Birthday to my beautiful Dad. The strongest, kindest man on the planet.”
He returned the praise last week, posting on Facebook: “She’s done it!!! Cracked the Top
10..in at No.9 on the Official Top
40!! Well done my darling daughter Freya.”
Freya was pictured on social media hugging her smiling dad – who bears a passing resemblance to his cuddly character.
Her first album is due out early next year.