Kate stars as Geri

FROM taking the children to playgroup to performing before 40,000 fans in Sydney s olympic stadium 32-year-old former Chailey resident Kate Lush has come a long way!

Kate (nee Braithwaite), who has always loved amateur singing and karaoke, moved to Australia in 1995 and is married with two small children.

When she heard of a Sydney radio station s appeal for a stand-in for ex-Spice Girl, Geri Halliwell, who had dropped out of an imminent music festival Kate stepped forward.

She entered a 'Geri-oke contest and belted out It s Raining Men so well that she was picked to make a special appearance at the festival.

Was she worried about performing for thousands after just a few dance lessons and a week s notice?

'No way, she said, 'I ve bungee-jumped, parachuted and hang-glided. I knew I could do this.

Her father Hugh Braithwaite, of Lewes, said: 'I only knew about it when Kate recently wrote me a letter and told me what she had done.

'I m speechless and very proud for her. Perhaps she will go on to even greater things.

Kate is now in the process of recording songs for an album.