A 22-year-old acting graduate had the opportunity of a lifetime to meet her idol, American singer-songwriter Olivia Rodrigo.
Mia Monteverde, who grew up in Bolton, graduated from the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts last year and said she has been a "huge fan" of Olivia's for a "really long time".
After becoming a fan, the 22-year-old from Bury, who attended Thornleigh Salesian College, started interacting with Olivia's official teams page online, Livies HQ.
Since last summer, Mia has been helping them with their Discord server, planning fan projects and online parties so when a competition was announced to meet Olivia, she jumped at the chance.
She said: “I knew there was a random raffle drawer to meet Olivia at an event in London so I entered…but I didn’t win.
“I was gutted because I had wanted to meet her for so long.
"But, at 8.30pm the night before the event, Livies HQ asked me to send my full name and email address but they never told me why.”
Mia said she had hoped it would be for the event but because she lives in Bury and the event was at a secret location in London, she took a chance, got on a train the next morning and made the trip.
She said: “I didn’t even know if I was going to be invited or not, I had no idea.
“But, once I had started the journey, I received a message confirming that I had been invited and it was being held at the Hawley Arms in Camden, which is where Amy Winehouse used to go.
“I started crying on the train which was so embarrassing but when I got to the venue I met some of my friends who are also huge fans and they had painted the whole of the outside of the pub purple for the event.”
Rodrigo rose to fame through her lead roles on the Disney television programs Bizaardvark and High School Musical: The Musical: The Series.
In 2020, Rodrigo released her debut single "Drivers License", which broke various records and became one of the best-selling songs of 2021, followed by her singles "Deja Vu" and "Good 4 U".
Outside of the pub at the event, there was a billboard promoting Olivia's single and a taxi with the "guts" cover on it.
it’s been a week since liv went across the pond to celebrate #badidearight with the london livies 💜 pic.twitter.com/rjRYvWH1fO
— olivia’s livies 💋 (@LiviesHQ) August 22, 2023
Inside, Mia said the venue had been fully decorated with balloons for "bad idea right" and there were also photo booths, an open bar and snacks.
She said: “Everyone was just partying and then Olivia came out and she was just the sweetest person ever and everything I ever hoped she would be.
“She made sure she met every single person in the room, didn’t rush anyone, and genuinely listened to us all.
“I was actually really nervous meeting her because I had thought about meeting her for so long and what I would say but because she was so nice it wasn’t a problem at all.”
Mia added that her other favourite artist, Baby Queen, who opened for Olivia at the "sour" tour, also came to the event and spent time chatting with her and her friends.
Rodrigo, who was also named 2022's Woman of the Year, has achieved three Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles, one Billboard 200 number-one album, and five multi-Platinum certifications by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
She has also won an American Music Award, seven Billboard Music Awards and three MTV Video Music Awards as well as being named Time’s 2021 Entertainer of the Year and Billboard’s 2022 Woman of the Year.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here