What is Alice Fredenham doing now? What happened to her after “BGT”?

Have you heard of Alice Fredenham?

Alice came out of the shadows and wowed her audience with her amazing performance on “Britain’s Got Talent” in 2013. In 2017 she released her only album, “Under the Covers”, and as quickly as she had hit the music scene, she disappeared. People are asking, ‘What has happened to Alice Fredenham?’ Can we get to the bottom of this mystery and find out?  …

How did Alice become an overnight sensation?

Alice was born in Harpenden, Hertfordshire, UK, and as a young girl, had an inherent passion for music. She would sing in her bedroom and dreamt of performing on stage. She sang in a school production of “Joseph and his Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat”, but didn’t do much in the way of performance in her teen years.

After completing her schooling, life hadn’t presented many opportunities for Alice to show off her true passion – her singing talent. So she worked at a local beauty salon to support herself, and had decided to focus on building a career in that industry. Alice is a true romantic – a lover of antiques, vintage fashion and music, anything from the 1940s/50s, Rita Hayworth and old-style Hollywood glamour.

Alice Fredenham auditions for “The Voice”

At the age of 28, Alice had plucked up some courage and auditioned for “The Voice UK Series 2“. By then she had done some gigs at pubs around London and at a few weddings, and quipped that “The Voice” was the biggest audience she’d performed in front of. It was also the first time her family ever came to see her singing live. By then, Alice said she’d gained confidence, which she felt came with age. She had come out of her shell, had developed a stage personality, and knew she ‘had a lot to offer’ on that side of things (i.e. performance) ‘as well as my voice’. She delivered a sassy performance of “The Lady is a Tramp”.

Unfortunately, although she had quite high expectations, the judges didn’t swivel around, and were pretty critical, saying things like, ‘there is a difference in singing for just singing or singing to make people listen, and it felt like Alice was just singing’ – something like a background jazz singer. Judge/coach Danny O’Donoghue called her ‘smoking hot and gorgeous’, but to her’s and her family’s dismay, she was eliminated. The show was broadcast on 20th April 2013.

Alice Fredenham shines at “Britain’s Got Talent”

Alice took her failure with “The Voice” as a hard knock, but psyched herself up, dusted herself off and ventured onto the stage to face the judges in “Britain’s Got Talent Series 7″ on 28th May 2013. This time she didn’t let anyone know she was going to compete, as she didn’t want to let anyone down, admitting she had always battled with stage fright, and that she takes rejection badly and ends up feeling not good enough. Yet she really wanted to succeed, because she felt like she was failing herself if she didn’t try.

She admitted that she was scared as she took to the stage, but composed herself and performed a sultry, silken, touching rendition of “My Funny Valentine”. Much to her immense surprise, she got a resounding standing ovation. Alice was totally overwhelmed and burst into tears. Simon Cowell pronounced, ‘Oh my God! This is what I have been waiting for. Your voice is like liquid gold… I love you and I love your voice and I also love the fact that you don’t even know how good you are.’ He went on to say that it was the easiest ‘yes’ he ‘d given throughout the whole competition. The show was broadcast on 13th April 2013.

Alice’s performance changed her life. Her unexpected success propelled her into the spotlight, the media hounded her for interviews, and record labels sought to sign her up. She’d reached her dream, left her job at the beauty salon, but sadly the overwhelming attention caused her a load of stress.

What transpired at “Britain’s Got Talent’s” Semi-Finals

After singing “Cry Me a River” in “Britain’s Got Talent’s” semi-finals, Alice burst into tears. This time they weren’t tears of joy. Even though the judges called her a star, Amanda Holden coining her as “old Hollywood” and Simon Cowell saying he’s going to change what he said in the audition and that her voice is actually ‘Liquid platinum’, Alice was unfortunately eliminated.

#BGT #AliceFredenham pic.twitter.com/SoUBn4dQGV

— Alice Fredenham (@AliceFredenham) April 13, 2013

She explained to her local news reporter, The Herts Advertiser, that she was asked to consider singing Ella Fitzgerald’s “Cry Me a River” instead of the song she had been rehearsing, which was “Over the Rainbow”. She had made the switch, but it turned out to be the wrong decision, as she hadn’t had time to rehearse, made some errors and panicked during the performance so didn’t deliver her best. However, she wasn’t giving up on her dream, and felt the experience a positive one. She said she was proud to have reached the semi-finals, and it was a great platform from which she could launch her career.

Alice certainly made a name for herself, and built a massive fan base in a short time. According to Cherry Red Records, her performance in “Britain’s Got Talent” already had over 40 million hits on YouTube, with Alice being quite a hit in the American market too.

Alice Fredenham grapples with her sudden fame

Alice’s hopes of a longstanding arrangement with a record company were dashed when Sony discharged her from a demo contract, and she struggled to secure another deal. She faced rejection numerous times, and became disappointed with the music industry. Finally, she withdrew to allow herself time to focus on herself and her mental health, and to re-ignite her passion for music.

After taking some time out, Alice realized that she was still passionate about singing. In May 2015, she performed at a Harpenden fundraiser for Nepal, and sang at more intimate, local venues. This helped her regain confidence and enjoy her talent again. Even though she was still struggling with anxiety and self-doubt, Alice then decided to personally invest in creating an album, and raised about £40,000 through Kickstarter. The album, “Under the Covers” was recorded at Real World and features classic cover songs.

“Under the Covers” achieved positive reviews from critics, but wasn’t a big seller, and it seemed that Alice’s career had come to a standstill. Apparently there were problems relating to the launch, distribution and mailing of the CD to reward some investors. Suddenly, without warning, Alice closed down her website, and after 19th February 2017 vanished from her Facebook page where she has 114,000 followers.

She reappeared to post a final message on 22nd December 2017, when she apologized for her absence online, saying she’d been taking a break from music, and focusing her energy in other areas of her life. She thanked her fans for their support, and went on to say that she was unsure what path she wanted to follow musically, and the years prior had been challenging and frustrating, but saying ‘Music is never far from my mind, and I’ve always known I will go back to it when the time is right’.  There were almost 2,000 comments to that post, in which her fans praised her talent, calling her voice ‘enchanting’ and ‘angelic’. They wished her well, encouraged her, hoping that she’d return soon.

So where is Alice now?

According to an article by The Herts Advertiser dated 7th September 2023, after receiving queries from Alice’s fans from all parts of the world, they tried to contact her several times, but have received nothing but silence. They also wrote to Patrick Phillips, who recorded “Under the Covers” with her, with a request for an interview or for some information regarding Alice’s whereabouts or career. He hasn’t responded.

The only response they got was from Cherry Red Records, stating, ‘Alice has retired from the music industry, and wishes to retain her privacy’.

So is that it then? Is that the last anyone has seen or heard of Alice? No-one, bar one person, has heard from her. An admirer, Tony Douthwaite sent her flowers for Valentine’s Day in 2021 in memory of the song that created her fame. He was amazed when Alice wrote to thank him.

Her fans are not giving up though. There’s even a private Facebook page of over 3,000 dedicated followers called ‘Alice Fredenham – Where is She?’ In the page’s administrator’s words: ‘This page is dedicated to the search and discovery of our Alice in the hopes that all is well in her life and her career, and that we’ll be treated to more of her wonderful talent in the years ahead.’

Has Alice gone off the radar for good or will she return one day when the time is right and delight her fans with a magical dose of her ‘liquid platinum’ voice?