AN Andover community school teacher fought off competition from 1,500 other entrants to make it to the final six in Channel 4's programme searching for a Bollywood Star.

Rivona Essop, aged 23, arrived in Andover two years ago from Durban in South Africa.

Her then boyfriend, Zayne, had been offered the post of design and technology teacher at Harrow Way. He accepted the job and Rivona decided to follow him but not before marrying him.

She closed her dancing school and Harrow Way found a teaching assistant post for her. However talented dancer that she is, she soon became a dance and drama teacher at the school.

As an extra curriculum activity, Rivona teaches Indian dance after school and her pupils really enjoy it. Channel 4's four-part series is called Bollywood Star and begins on Tuesday, 1 June at 9pm. It's a reality show but Rivona said: "It's not just people sitting around doing nothing like Big Brother. It involves very talented people working very hard to perfect their dancing and acting."

She added: "It's not a cheesy contest, it's a documentary." The aim was to find a star who would go on to win a part in a Bollywood movie directed by Mahesh Bhatt.

The finalists were flown to Mumbai, the heart of the Indian film industry, where further auditions took place.

The UK auditions took place at the ICC in Birmingham and it was gruelling as Rivona explained: "I was one of the last.

"We had to do a difficult piece of dancing and then an improvisation piece where they would say 'act like a spoilt child' and we had to act on the spot."

The four judges were all well-known in the Asian entertainment world. One of them was Sophiya Haque who has the lead role in the West End musical Bombay Dreams.

Her husband Zayne pointed out that after each person's performance the judges would grill the contestants but after his wife's performance the judges were so impressed they said: "How could we ask anything from someone so talented?"

Rivona has always stayed true to her culture and tradition. From the age of four, she has been dancing with the hope of one day starring in a Bollywood movie.

Her ambition now is to get into UK show business. Rivona said: "In this country if you are on television people just snap you up and if you have talent then it's a bonus. "I have taken dance and acting classes all my life."

At the age of 13, Rivona danced for Nelson Mandella and other political leaders.

At 15, she signed a five-year modelling contract, which saw her undertaking fashion and make-up shoots for magazines. During this time she also travelled around her country starring in plays.

When Nelson Mandella heard that Rivona was starring in Bollywood Star, he wrote to her wishing her luck. It was a very proud and touching moment for her.