Boston nurse wows Adam Lambert, Shania Twain and other celebrity judges on TV's Starstruck with take on Jon Bon Jovi

Ash Wilson, 38, appeared on the popular ITV show on Saturday evening.

The programme involves members of the public impersonating singers in front of a studio audience and a panel of showbiz judges comprising Beverley Knight, Adam Lambert, Jason Manford, and Shania Twain.

Initially, they perform as a team of three, with each of them singing as the same act, taking it in turns with the lyrics. After all the teams have performed, a winning team is chosen. This winning team then performs a second song and from that trio an individual winner is selected to go through to the final at the end of the series.

Ash helped open Saturday evening’s show as part of Team Jon Bon Jovi, performing Livin’ On A Prayer.

The team proved a unanimous hit with the judges.

Shania Twain said: “You’ve got it. You guys have regular day jobs and to be able to belt the way you do, like properly belting, I think if you guys had a rock band, I would want to be your back-up singer.”

Adam Lambert said: “Every one of you captured the rock ‘n’ roll spirit. That was really fun. It was bass-ass, it was a bit messy, it was cool.”

The Queen singer also made special mention of Ash, saying: “Ash, the way that you went after the range of that song, that sounded the most like [Jon Bon Jovi] to me.”

Beverley Knight said: “You all gave us the presence of the showman that is Jon Bon Jovi. He is a real frontman. He’s a proper diva, actually, the way he commands the stage. Thank you for bringing the spirit of Jon. Well done.”Jason Manford said: “It’s that song that you start singing thinking ‘I’ve got this’, you think ‘this is well within my range’, and then you remember it goes higher. I’ve seen quite a lot of blokes crying in the Dog and Duck halfway through that song. But you guys, like a body-boarder, you just managed to surf the waves all the way through that song and it was an absolute joy.”

Despite the praise, the trio missed out on the chance to perform again, after Team Ed Sheeran were chosen as the winners for the evening.

Ash, in addition to being an A&E nurse locally, is a musician.

For 10 years, he performed as a member of rock band Kill The Ideal, playing dates in the UK and in Europe.

After Kill The Ideal came to an end, Ash and two of the other members set up Anger Party, also a rock band. That group are now signed to Silent Cult Records, an independent label attached to Sony, and have had airplay on BBC Radio 1.

Ash says he was invited to be on the show through his work in Kill The Ideal and Anger Party.

“I was contacted by one of the talent scouts for the show and asked if I would be interested in going to an interview,” he said. “At first, I didn’t believe she was real, mainly because I’ve never done anything like this before and have never applied, but once she confirmed she was very much real, and explained which show she was representing, I said ‘yes’ straight away. I had seen parts of the previous series and thought it was brilliant, kind of a new take on Stars in their Eyes, but on overdrive.”

“I Initially had a telephone interview and once I had passed that, I was offered a Zoom call where one of the other talent scouts heard me sing,” he continued. “They asked me if I could sing a few things – I covered some Robbie Williams, but once they heard me do a couple of Bon Jovi tracks they finally asked if I would be happy to be him. Obviously, with the show you’re suppose to sound like the person – I’ve always been told I have a likeness to him, Robert Plant from Led Zeppelin and Myles Kennedy from Alter Bridge.”

After that, dates in London followed during which Ash would meet members of the show’s production team, including its vocal coaches (who also work on The Voice UK). Then, a few weeks later, he got confirmation he was going to be on the programme.

“It was a nerve-racking wait, but when I found out, I screamed, cried, ran round the house in my pants, called my wife and parents and we all went crazy together,” he said.

He described being involved in the show as ‘one of the best experiences ever’.

“I’ve played some big stages, but to sing in front of Adam Lambert, Shania Twain, Beverley Knight and Jason Manford has been an explosive experience!” he said.

During the entire process, he said the show treated them ‘like celebrities’.

“The whole team were so friendly and helpful it made the experience that much more memorable,” he said.

In taking part in the show, Ash said he felt he was representing Boston and its live music scene.

“People don’t realise how much talent there is in this town,” he said, mentioning The Vigilantes, Moskito, and The Ultraviolet.

“I just hope I made everyone proud.”

He said he did not go on the show to win, but with the outlook that ‘this is something I have never done before’.

Having never had a vocal lesson, being entirely self-taught, he said: “For me, to even meet top industry vocal coaches was a win in itself.”

As well as being in Anger Party (and a local covers band Crossfire), Ash said he considering starting vocal and performance lessons for any budding artists (he invites anyone interested to get in touch on [email protected]).

He closed by giving thanks to all his ‘supportive’ colleagues at the hospital.