On Sunday, Millie and I went to London to do some filming and for a BGT audition!
I sent off a video in August, before Millie’s arthritis became apparent. I thought that if I did hear from them, we would have to decline. However, on pain killers and various supplements, Millie’s a lot better, so when we got the email saying our video had passed Stage 1 and we were wanted for a Stage 2 audition in front of the producers, I thought we’d give it one more try!
We loaded the scooter, barrel and other props into the car and headed up to London.
The auditions were held at the ExCel.
When we arrived we were taken to a big room with lots of other people waiting to audition. It turned out that most of these people were waiting for Stage 1, but we’d already got through that with the video.
While we were waiting, I decided to ask Millie to go on her scooter, as she hadn’t done it for months! She was perfect, and the whole room was watching her!! She got a massive applause when she stopped! Loads of people ran to take photos of her, and the ones that missed came to me after and asked if they could have a photo! I also got her on the barrel, which had the same response! Unfortunately though, Millie had a little slip off the barrel. I think this must have hurt her hips so she was unable to ride the barrel properly afterwards. When we finished practising, loads of people came and asked to stroke her, and some even wanted pictures with us!
We got some GB ears and a flag while we were in there too!
After an hour or so, everyone went outside to do some filming - shouting and cheering etc. We didn’t do this as they thought it might be too stressful for Millie. Shortly after this, we were found to do some arrival shots. These were done outside by the river. Millie got given a scarf to wear while she did it! We started off on the barrel, but Millie struggled with this a bit. She managed to do a little though.
We then went on to the scooter.
Then we went just around the corner, so we had the river and the city in the background. The ground was more level here so was easier for Millie on the scooter.
We also did a running shot. For this I left Millie much further down the path, and told her to wait. She had a crew member with her but she wasn’t holding her or anything. I walked about 50m away and she stayed exactly where I left her, despite and birds, people and unfamiliar surroundings. I then called her and she came flying back to me! The cameraman ran next to her and got a beautiful shot of Millie running along the river, with her scarf flowing behind her! He was out of breath after though!
Once the arrival shots were done, we had to go back in to register. This took ages as I managed to get stuck behind all the kid dance groups!! Eventually, we were called for our audition. We were taken upstairs to wait. We had another little practise and some more people came and told me how much they love Millie!
It was then time for our audition. There was a Stage in the middle of the room, and carpet either side. Ideally, the stage was too slippery for Millie and the carpet not slippery enough! I decided the carpet was best though. Unfortunately there was only a small space, made smaller by the props. The accident on the barrel earlier has hurt Millie so she wasn’t able to do it and the man messed up the music, so it could have gone better! It wasn’t Millie’s fault though, and I couldn’t be prouder of her. I didn’t think she’d be able to do it again with her arthritis, but she gave it her all.
I’m not expecting to get through. If we do, we’ll probably give it a go, but if not then this was the last time Millie will be doing the barrel and the scooter and the more strenuous tricks. As much as she tried and wanted to, and to everyone else it still looked amazing, I could tell she was struggling. It’s hurting her even more now a few days later. I wanted to end on a high like this.
We both had a fantastic day. Millie is the most amazing dog and best friend anyone could ever want. I’m so proud of all she has achieved, we’ve done more together than I ever dreamed of. She’s really is one in a million.
