Amanda Holden to mentor choir on BBC show ahead of ‘pitch-perfect performance’ at King Charles Coronation

Amanda Holden has been named among the celebrity coaches who  will mentor a new choir for a performance at the Coronation Concert. The Britain’s Got Talent judge, 52, who was born in Portsmouth, will feature in new BBC programme, ‘Sing For The King: The Search For The Coronation Choir,’  in which  vocalists of all ages from across the UK prepare to deliver a performance for King Charles and Queen Camilla.

Amanda will be joined by famous choir leader Gareth Malone, 47,  Strictly judge Motsi Mabuse, 42, and EastEnders star Rose-Ayling Eilis, 28. The four celebrity mentors will offer “their individual areas of expertise” in order to “challenge and inspire the choirs to give a pitch-perfect performance”, the BBC said.

The Coronation Choir’s final group set to perform includes a traditional male voice choir from Caerphilly, Yorkshire’s only female South Asian choir, a group of  London Cabbies, an LGBTQ+ choir, and an all-deaf sign performance organisation.

The documentary will show the choir meeting at Windsor Castle to perform all together for the first time, ahead of the concert next weekend. The concert is set to take place a day after Charles III and Camilla are crowned at Westminster Abbey.

The coronation ceremony on Saturday 6 May, will see huge crowds expected to take over the streets of London for the historic event. It has been reported that the new King has opted for a cheaper, shorter ‘slimmed-down’ ceremony, due to his concerns surrounding the ongoing cost-of-living crisis in the UK.

Gareth Malone, who is a professional choirmaster, has appeared in a multitude of TV shows, including BAFTA award-winning TV series, The Choir (since 2006), The Naked Choir (2015) and The Choir: Military Wives (2011).

Speaking about Sing For The King, Gareth said: “It means a huge amount to us all to be involved in this special concert. We’ll all be working incredibly hard to create something uplifting and powerful.”

Charlotte Moore, chief content officer at the BBC, said: “The coronation is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to mark history with an unparalleled breadth of programmes. We will have something to enthral all audiences, from the pageantry to the procession and the concert, and bring everyone together to celebrate and to share in the significance of the occasion.”

Although Amanda is best known for being a judge on Britain’s Got Talent and a host on Heart radio, she has also had success as a singer and released her debut album Songs from my Heart in 2020. The album reached number four on the UK Album charts, which included cover versions of classics like Somewhere Over The Rainbow and A Thousand Years.

Amanda has also appeared in several stage musicals, including  Thoroughly Modern Millie,  Shrek The Musical, and Stepping Out.

Sing For The King: The Search For The Coronation Choir will be aired on Friday 5 May.