Meeting the stars (From Penarth Times)

Meeting the stars

A SULLY school girl has met her heroine Geri Halliwell after playing a major role in the Disney Channel's Kids Awards.

Leanne Piper, 11, of Conybeare Road, saw an advert on the channel looking for seven children to be on a 'Kids Council' - put together to decide nominees for the star-studded Kids Awards.

Stanwell School pupil Leanne filled in a questionnaire and fought off thousands from across Britain to take a place on the council, ending up as the only representative from Wales.

For the last few months Leanne has been travelling to London with the other members, interviewing pop stars and celebrities and deciding whether they should be nominees.

Last Saturday Leanne saw their hard work pay off at the Kids Awards, like the Brit Awards but aimed at youngsters, at the London Arena.

Leanne said: "I was really excited to be chosen. We travelled to London lots of times meeting pop bands at Sound.

"We watched them perform, decided who sounded good, and then discussed whether they deserved awards. We also had to pick Disney shows and presenters for awards.

"It's been great, I've loved it all. I've met S Club 7, A1 and Neil Buchanan. I met Geri Halliwell too. I really liked her, she's a really nice person."

Leanne, who aims to be a dolphin trainer at Disneyland Florida or a pop star, said: "We went on stage with DJ Pied Piper and they presented us with awards. The audience response was really good, there were 12,000 people there."

Leanne is the second in her family to experience stardom. Her brother Gareth, 16, is currently in Bristol filming a major role in Teachers.

* The Kids Awards will be shown on the Disney Channel on the next two Sundays at 2.30pm.