Britain’s Got Talent semi-finalist Linda Mudzenda is performing in the first show on Saturday – however, the 21-year-old has opened up about the challenges she’s faced off screen
Linda Mudzenda can’t wait to wow the Britain’s Got Talent judges once again on Saturday night as the semi-finalist returns to the ITV stage – however, the 21-year-old has revealed that she’s faced a fair few challenges to make it to the competition. Speaking to The Mirror in an exclusive chat, Linda shared how she’s find it hard to settle into life in the UK after moving from Zimbabwe to become a child support worker two years ago.
“Honestly, it’s not easy. It has its challenges,” she said. “It’s full of ups and downs because for me, I stay alone, so you get to experience things alone. There’s actually no one that you really lean on to so sometimes it gets depressing, sometimes it’s good. It’s double-sided.”
The singer blew away the judging panel with her rendition of You Say by Lauren Daigle in her audition, which won her the Golden Buzzer from Alesha Dixon. While Linda couldn’t give away too much about her performance on Saturday, she revealed that it’s about finding her identity.
“What I can say – it’s defining who Linda is. It’s about someone who had lost their identity or something happened along the way, and they are now defining themselves,” she said. “They’ve now found themselves in that situation, and they now know who they are and I think that’s just all.”
Linda previously opened up about her health and personal struggles ahead of the competition, revealing hat two months before the audition, she didn’t have a place to stay, was having problems at work and almost required surgery. The star was diagnosed with a pre-diabetic condition and a cyst on her left side.
Now, Linda is stronger than ever and ready to perform. “It was a tough season for me during that time, but I’m doing OK, honestly. My health has improved. I’m still waiting to see my gynaecologist but I’m fine, I’m healthy, I’m strong.”
At work, Linda supports children who have experienced childhood trauma, mental health problems, learning difficulties and disabilities – and is hoping to bring one of them to her performance on Saturday.
“I actually went to work the day after my episode aired and, to my surprise, a young person was actually waiting for me, and he was really emotional as well. He was waiting for me at the door,” she said. “He said, ‘Oh Linda, I am proud of you. I didn’t think you would actually be on TV.’ He called all his friends, his mum, and honestly, it was just so emotional as well.”
She added: “I’m trying to get my mum to come, we are still trying to do the process. Hopefully, it will all work out. The young person also, he said he wants to come and watch me perform for the semi-finals. He actually promised that he was going to behave well. He’s not gonna have any problems so that he can attend. So honestly, it’s just overwhelming. It’s amazing.”
As for what Lidna plans to do with the prize money if she wins Britain’s Got Talent, she hopes to treat her mum, who is still living in Zimbabwe. “The first person I would consider is my mum. I would really want to give her whatever she wants because she deserves the world and also, I would, I would love to invest in my music. I’m, I’m taking this opportunity as well to venture now in my solo career, you know share my gift to the world, tour around the world, do my music and grow in music,” she said.
Britain’s Got Talent airs its first live semi-final on Saturday at 7pm on ITV1 and ITVX.
Join The Mirror’s WhatsApp Community or follow us on Google News , Flipboard , Apple News, TikTok , Snapchat , Instagram , Twitter , Facebook , YouTube and Threads – or visit The Mirror homepage.