An actor from Thornbury has been given four yeses by Judges on Britain's biggest talent show.

Robert Pearce, who grew up in Thornbury, auditioned for Britain’s Got Talent as 'Mama G' with other Panto Dames, and was given a standing ovation by the judges before being put through to the next round of the show.

Robert who attended Manorbrook Primary, Castle School and was part of the Northavon Youth Theatre Company auditioned as an eight-piece and said the dames were over the moon with the response from Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden, Alicia Dixon and David Walliams, as all four judges said yes to his act, Dame Nation, going through to the next stage of the competition.

Robert said he developed his skills at the iconic Armstrong Hall before moving on to play a panto dame in theatres across the UK.

He said it was always his dream to be a panto dame and now he's chasing another, to perform at the Royal variety performance.

“The thing I love about being a dame is making people laugh and making people happy," he said.

“Dressing up to be spectacular and fabulous is just a bonus!”

The eight dames came together during lockdown and decided to audition after noticing there had never been a pantomime act in the history of BGT.

Robert said they were over the moon to be voted through on the family show and pleased to be waving the flag for dames and panto everywhere.

“We are doing something that a 90-year-old and a three-year-old can enjoy. A panto is an incredible experiment,” he said.

Robert said they expected their act to go ‘ok’ but never expected the huge response they received from the audience

“I panned the auditorium with my eyes as we finished and, it was filled with people who were cheering for something I love to do, and I thought, finally panto was getting the appreciation it deserved.

The act are now hoping to be one of 40 acts selected for the semi-finals that are televised live from Monday, May 30.

“We have everything crossed to make it to the semi-finals. We have a different act for it and we would love Thornbury to get behind us and the whole country.”