Basildon News

Off the wall gran is a wannabe Jacko

By Emma Palmer

5:20pm Thursday 2nd September 2010

A 50-YEAR-OLD gran is hoping to hit the big time with her new career as a Michael Jackson impersonator.

Cleaner Christine Guntrip, of Waldegrave, Basildon, has always had an obsession with Michael Jackson and his music.

But it wasn’t until she lost more than five stone last year that she began to realise she could emulate his famous moves.

Christine, who has four grandchildren, is set to perform her first professional booking, a birthday party at the Towngate Theatre, this weekend.

She said: “When I lost the weight I had a new found confidence and I started dancing around.

“I can even do the moonwalk.

“It’s then, I got the idea to become a female Michael Jackson impersonator.

“I could always sing, as I am semi-professionally trained, but I could never dance.

“But to my amazement when I tried, I found I could perform a lot of his moves.

“I then bought a costume to wear out to events and got a great response from the public.

“I’m hoping to get enough bookings so I can give up my day job as a cleaner.”

Christine’s routine involves her dancing and singing some of Michael Jackson’s most famous hits including, Man in the Mirror, the Way You Make Me Feel and Thriller.

She perfected Jackson’s best known dance move, the moonwalk, by practising on the decking in her back garden.

Christine has been through a tough time after being widowed last year.

She said: “It’s been hard, but since I went from a size 18 to a size ten I feel like a new person.

“I’m so full of energy.

“I hope people think I’m really good, but at the end of the day I’m having a great time, doing something I never thought I’d have the confidence to do.”

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