Soap star hopeful Jo-Ann D'Costa is days away from discovering if she will be the new face on ITV's Emmerdale.

The 24-year-old singer, actress, dancer and presenter is one of ten hopefuls battling to make up a new family of five in the show Soapstars.

Jo-Ann, of Park Way, Pound Hill, Crawley, was one of 6,000 wannabes throughout the country who auditioned and has won through ten selections to get to the final.

She said: "To make it to the last ten is a big achievement but now I want to go the whole way. It is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

Judges are visiting the homes of the finalists this week to break the news.

Viewers will be told in the programme on Saturday.

Jo-Ann was among 3,000 hopefuls who queued for six hours for the London auditions.

She said: "There were so many of us we only had a few seconds. I just said 'Hi, I'm Jo-Ann' and they said they liked me and I could go on to the next audition."

Viewers have seen Jo-Ann, a former pupil at St Wilfrid's comprehensive school, Crawley, reach the final group in Soapstars, based on the Popstars programme which led to the formation of the hit band Hear'say.