My Santa shock
John duped into singing on comedian’s show
An amateur singer wowed millions of festive telly viewers — after becoming the shock star of a hit BBC show.
Aircraft mechanic John McGill shared the Christmas Eve stage with comedian Michael McIntyre. The unwitting star, from Mossblown, had travelled to London to take part in a bogus world record attempt for ‘ Most Santas down a chute’.
But the 28- year- old got the surprise of his life when landing – literally – on a West End stage in front of thousands of screaming fans.
The stitch- up, which was six months in the making, saw John’s friends and family successfully luring him on the trip away.
He was convinced to take part in an apparent world record attempt that would lead him to telly stardom.
Dressed in a Santa costume, John found himself first down a slide bursting through McIntyre’s chimney at the Theatre Royal, ending up as star of the comic’s show. John told the Post: “I was confused. “It took me ages to realise it was me who was getting stitched up.
“It wasn’t until they pointed out my mum and dad in the audience that I realised.”
John thought his parents were at home looking after his Cockapoo dog, Murphy, and after seeing his parents in the audience, his first words after finding his breath were: “Who’s looking after the dog? That was legitimately l ii l my main i concern at the h time i – if you’re all here, who’s watching the dog?”
The singer is a member of Loudoun Musical Society ( LMS) and recently played the main role in their performance of Jesus Christ Superstar at the Palace Theatre in Kilmarnock.
John was a late bloomer to the world of performing when at 17 he was asked to sing while his sixth- year teacher at Ayr Academy played the piano.
And his love for singing carried on from there, as he joined LMS when he turned 18.
“I do a production every year at the Palace Theatre but I think that fits 500 people – I’ve never done anything near as big as that.
“And looking at that audience, it’s huge – the TV doesn’t do it any justice. There’s four tiers and I just kept looking up and up.
“Everybody backstage on the show was so supportive because you’re a rabbit in the headlights, so they were just saying ‘ just go for it’, ‘ take your shot.’
“And I’m standing behind this curtain with a microphone and earpiece in for the first time, trying to remember the words.
“I’ve got lots of people on twitter asking ‘ when’s the album out’ and folk messaging saying my performance made them cry but the messages have been absolutely lovely.”
But John hasn’t quite given up his day job for stardom yet. The mechanic at GE Calidonian has recently received his 10 years of service award and is excited to get back to work to see his colleagues.