Cameron Ledwidge recounts his blind audition for The Voice

The sobering scale of the occasion, the colossal undertaking ahead and the sheer will to summon the strength to thrive.

Cameron Ledwidge earned himself a place on the tenth season of The Voice UK following a blind audition in October. The immeasurable tension of the evening is not one the teenager is likely to forget anytime soon as he aims to battle his way to the live rounds later this year.

"I had never felt so nervous in my life," he recalls. "I knew it was such an opportunity there in front of me. I was about three minutes away from possibly getting a turn and starting a whole career in the thing I love."

The Denny man recounts his tale to The Weekender with a certain exhaustion in mind. He remembers sitting in the green room, awaiting his call to the stage. An acute dread had set in, and Ledwidge was clutching his Nana's necklace – his good luck charm – in the hope of securing the comfort and fortitude he needed.

"Then I got the call," he says, before taking the nerve-shredding walk to the backstage area. Pre-audition interviews were now under way and the 18-year-old was less than a minute or so from standing before the judges. His preparations then take a knock.

"I'm right at the side of the stage and I can hear the girl on before me signing. She didn't get a turn and she was incredible. All I could think was: 'If she's not got a turn…'

"My whole system started shutting down; my mouth went numb; I was shaking. Then they gave me a ten second count and told me to go on."

The 18-year-old took one last deep breath and marched into the spotlight – the cameras fixed on him as he makes his way to his mark. His anxiety lifted. All that came before was fading noise. He was ready.

"I was determined," he says. "But I was absolutely bricking it. I knew this could be a moment for me to show who I am and push myself – this was it.

"I walked over and as soon as I got to the mic, I grabbed it. A lot of people look at their family, I just looked straight ahead, tried to get in my zone and tried to forget everything going on around me.

"Now, they say it's 15 seconds of camera shots before the band comes in, but it must have been about 20 minutes, I'm not kidding. It felt like I was standing there waiting longer than I was singing.

"I was holding onto the microphone like it was my protector."

MADE IT: Cameron Ledwidge during his blind audition on The Voice UK. Picture courtesy of ITV Studios

As the performance went on, a small piece of him felt his moment was gone. He remembers making a bum note – "the one note that I never ever messed up in rehearsal" – but he forges ahead.

The song was mere moments from the end and no turns. He'd missed his chance.

"At the time I just thought that even if no one turned, I was just going to smash the rest of this performance and do myself proud.

"On the last note you could hear in my voice that I was devastated – no one had turned. That was it. But then right at the last second, Anne-Marie turned and that's why I dropped to my knees.

"I had already started getting that heartbreak of not getting through when she turned and I was just so shocked."

Anne-Marie was sold, and she had found the newest member of her team. The youngster had made it through.

He shot off the stage and rode a wave of elation. But he soon found himself running on empty.

Ledwidge says: "It was such a long day – I hadn't eaten all day because of nerves. I was exhausted; the whole thing was just adrenaline. The whole thing was surreal.

"We left the studio and had planned on celebrating but as I soon as I got in, I fell asleep. No celebrations, straight to sleep and up the road the next day.

"In fact, as we were driving back, I was in a lecture on my phone – back to normality, straight away. And, obviously, I couldn't tell anyone why I was in the car."

The secrecy would continue for months, all through Christmas and into the new year. The temptation to break the news was consuming. But the notice came through and he was free tp announce, though it seemed that word had already gotten out around where he worked at Morrison's in Stirling.

"I couldn't tell anyone about it for so long," the young singer adds. "They send out a press release on the Friday night, for the show on the Saturday, and I was at work on the Friday.

"I hadn't announced it but I had to tell some people in my department so I could arrange to swap shifts and stuff. But one of them was going around telling all the staff and another was telling customers to 'watch The Voice tomorrow night'. At this point I'm just trying to do my job and folk are asking me 'How's Tom Jones? How's this and that...'

"I then had a 15-minute break. I had my [social media] posts drafted and I just had to hit post. I was shaking the whole way through the break, but then I just posted it and put my phone away.

MADE IT: Cameron Ledwidge during his blind audition on The Voice UK. Picture courtesy of ITV Studios

"As soon as I came out of work, my phone was mental. I was on everyone's Snapchat story and everyone's Instagram story – I had gone up dozens of followers and my mum had put me on all the Denny pages on Facebook.

"After the show on the Saturday, everything just went off. I've had some people asking for my autograph – I don't even have an autograph; I'll need to think of one."

Forth Valley has carved a bit of a reputation on The Voice with a former winner in Stevie McCrorie in 2015 and Laura Begley also making it through the following year. Both McCrorie and Begley continue to release independently and Ledwidge is hoping to carve out a career for himself in a similar vein.

He says: "There is some amazing talent in this area. People don't see it much but it's right there.

"Music is really what I want. But I'm trying to look after myself as well. I want to get my degree and have that security and I still have to work away. I'm being careful. I know what the music industry can do to people and I don't want to change.

"In the music industry there are some who just don't seem genuine. I don't want to be that person – I think I'm alright as I am. I'm sure there are some that will disagree with that; there's always going to be haters. But I'll kill 'em with kindness.

"I'm still trying to find that balance. I really want to remain myself – I'll always be Cameron. I don't want to change anything to suit other people.

The Voice UK airs on Saturday evenings at 8.30pm on ITV.