A group of South Ayrshire school children who helped their music teacher to bowl over his new wife during his wedding speech, have catapulted to fame on national TV. The choir, from Forehill Primary in Ayr, had already become internet sensations after a video of their performance went viral.
On the big day, romantic Forehill music teacher, Lee McDowall, wasn't one for speeches, but instead coached pupils to learn a specially written song to surprise his wife. The 22-strong choir were unveiled from behind a screen, with their heartfelt rendition reducing guests to tears of joy, with the lyrics poking fun at their teacher for punching above his weight and finding the love of his life.
The video of the children's performance has since gone viral, clocking up more than a million hits on Youtube, alongside national coverage in some of the UK's biggest newspapers. But it didn't end there, and the choir had become so well-known that they were asked to perform live on ITV's This Morning programme on Thursday 1 Sept.
Lee McDowall said that he hadn't expected his small gesture to attract such major attention, "I absolutely could not have predicted that any of this could have happened. The kids were buzzing when they appeared on live TV, and the support from the parents and school has been absolutely fantastic. I couldn't have asked for more."
Katy McDowall said the last two weeks had been like a whirlwind, "It's been crazy. The first time I met the children was at the wedding and they were fantastic on the day. The video's now had so many hits online that I can't even watch the film and recognise myself anymore, it's like this has all been happening to someone else."
Rhona Muir (11) is one of the singers and said the whole experience had been completely surreal, "The wedding felt like a normal performance but it's weird to have sung the song on TV. So many people have seen the video online now that I'm getting stopped in the street by people that recognise me. It's been great fun, maybe we'll get in the charts!"
While the choir performed live from Mr McDowall's music room, 450 children from the Primary and Nursery Schools watched the performance from a live feed in the assembly hall.
Headteacher, David Watson, said all involved had enjoyed their moment in the limelight, "Throughout this whole experience you've been able to see the community ethos of the staff, children and parents shine though. It's wonderful to celebrate nice times, and I'd like to thank Lee and Katy for including us in their special day."
After the performance the children took the time to take selfies with This Morning presenter, Jeff Brazier. He said the programme was pleased to have been able to tell Forehill's story, "It's great to meet such a romantic man, although I think he might be setting the bar quite high for the rest of us. It sometimes feels that there's so much bad news around, so it's lovely to be able to present such a positive story, which is guaranteed to put a smile on anyone's face."