BELLRINGING TV stars Alan and Gay Cooper have been ringing in the New Year by trying to get more people shaking their stuff.

The couple, who had a busy bellringing year in 2014, will be hosting beginners’ sessions in Benson and Marcham in the coming months.

The Borough Avenue, Wallingford couple shot to fame in 2011 by reaching the semi-finals of Britain’s Got Talent, and have kept a TV presence since.

In April they appeared on BBC’s The Voice, then attended a five-day international bellringing symposium in South Korea in July where they ran workshops.

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In December they recorded A Christmas Cracker with Bradley Walsh, shown on ITV on Boxing Day, and appeared on BBC’s The One Show.

Mrs Cooper, a trained accountant, said: “That was a mad week.

“We were on The One Show on Tuesday night after getting the call on Friday, and we were performing a concert with our recorder orchestra on Sunday.

“And we’d also promised to perform at Alan’s work, HR Wallingford, on the Tuesday, so we drove back to London for The One Show afterwards.”

Mrs Cooper said since they appeared on Britain’s Got Talent they were often recognised in the street.

The couple met when Mrs Cooper started recorder classes in Watlington in the mid-1980s.

Mr Cooper decided to give bellringing a go when a local group started near him and his wife-to-be joined him later.

Oxford Mail:

On the set of A Christmas Cracker with Bradley Walsh

They love handbells so much that they provided their own musical accompaniment at their wedding in 2007. They shot to fame in April 2011 when 10 million viewers saw their rendition of Celine Dion’s My Heart Will Go On at the Britain’s Got Talent audition.

Their version of the 1997 Titanic movie theme song won over the audience and judges Michael MacIntyre, Amanda Holden and David Hasselhoff. The audition has since attracted two million views on video website YouTube. Mrs Cooper said: “It’s all about the purity of the sound, I just love it.’’ The first session will be held at Benson Village Hall on February 7. Book at hrgbse.org.uk Mrs Cooper will also be running a beginners’ course at Denman College, Marcham, on four dates starting Monday, March 9.

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