PERFORMING in front of thousands of people for a chance at superstardom was a surreal experience for 21-year-old Wroughton singer Shania Carver.

She and her bandmates in girl group Lemonade sang for survival in the X Factor’s infamous Six Chair Challenge on Saturday after smashing their audition.

Despite winning a coveted seat early on, they had to battle a boy band for the final spot in Simon Cowell’s group category.

Shania said: “It was absolutely crazy, I don’t think anything could have prepared us for it.

“We watched earlier challenges but it’s 10 times more emotional when you’re actually there.

“We sang ‘I Was Here’ by Beyoncé, we got chair four and kept it until the New Girl Band took our chair and we had to sing-off against JBK.

“They killed it but fortunately we were chosen to go through, it was so intense.”

It’s been a rollercoaster journey to the judges’ houses for the group since they met mere months ago.

Shania added: “We went individually to a casting call for a girl band and afterwards, we thought ‘Let’s go audition for X Factor.’

“Before our audition, we had only been together for two weeks but we became really close friends really quickly, we’re like a family now.”

Shania went to Ridgeway School and New College before moving out of Swindon when she was 18 to study at the British and Irish Modern Music Institute’s campuses in Brighton and London.

It was Swindon’s thriving arts scene and creative college courses which pushed her to pursue a career in music.

She added: “I grew up in Wroughton, I loved the big arts festivals and events in Swindon over the summer, and everyone loves music and creative projects there.

“I did the dance course at New College and was in close proximity to performing arts students, which motivated me to go to music school.

“We want to be ourselves and take inspiration from lots of different artists – Beyoncé, Prince, Mariah Carey - and find our own niche.”

I’m so blessed to be given this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity - to achieve all this by 21 is amazing.

“I can’t believe it, I still think I’m dreaming.”