Julia Carlile

Inspirational Julia Carlile is a dancer who won the hearts of television viewers when she appeared on Britain’s Got Talent as part of dance troupe MerseyGirls. Aside from the group’s brilliant routines, what made the then-15-year-old Carlile stand out is that she performed despite being born with scoliosis, a debilitating curvature of the spine. The only surgery available to her was an operation that would mean she could never dance again. She hoped that winning Britain’s Got Talent would give her and her family enough money to travel to America for a different kind of surgery that would enable her to keep dancing. With audience members and judges in tears at her story and the MerseyGirls brilliant routine, judge Alesha Dixon hit her golden buzzer to send the group straight to the semi-finals—Simon Cowell even offered to pay for the treatment himself.

MerseyGirls, who have known each other since they were five years old and also include Carlile’s sister, sadly didn’t win, but they returned in 2019 to compete in Britain’s Got Talent: The Champions, making the grand final. Carlile had also previously made the semi-final of CBBC dance contest Taking the Next Step, again reducing the judges to tears with her story and her talent.

Carlile had the surgery in America, but has sadly now developed a further spinal condition that will ultimately leave her unable to dance. She has, however, achieved so much in her young life and has given hope and inspiration to many fellow scoliosis sufferers. For the meantime, however, she wears a pioneering brace that allows her to perform and continue inspiring.