For the millions of star-struck little girls prancing around their bedrooms singing the latest pop hits into the handles of their hairbrushes, only a handful will turn their stardust dreams into reality.

So hats off to former Weymouth schoolgirl Perrie Edwards, who was one of the lucky ones.

Starting out as a solo performer in 2011’s series of X Factor, she cut a swathe through the ranks of hopefuls and ended up in Little Mix, the first group to win the finals of the reality TV show.

Now, two years, the album DNA and a lot of hype later, Perrie, pictured above right, and her bandmates Jesy, Leigh-Anne and Jade have embarked on their first major UK tour, which descends on the BIC in Bournemouth on February 16.

Bubbling with enthusiasm despite having a streaming cold, Perrie is only too happy to talk about the sugar-rush of excitement that has transformed her life over the past 24 months.

“It’s been like a big whirlwind and everything has moved so fast since my first X Factor audition,” she said, just two days before the start of the band’s first major UK tour.

“It’s scary and it’s fun but when the audience is singing back at you and they know all the lyrics to your songs it’s like, that’s when it really sinks in that this is your life.

“We have toured before – we did the X Factor tour which we headlined as winners, with Janet (Devlin), Craig (Carlton) and everybody, but then people went to that for the other acts as well as us. This time they are here for us and that’s just amazing.”

Perrie grew up in a musical family – both her parents are performers and she describes her childhood as being like ‘the Von Trapp family’ from The Sound of Music.

“I didn’t think it was anything special because the whole family sang,” she said. “My mum got me into Motown and my dad likes Aerosmith and more rocky stuff.

“I grew up listening to Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey and Christina Aguilera and wanting to be like them one day.”

When she was five, Perrie moved to Weymouth with her mother and brother and lived in the seaside town for several years.

She was enrolled at Radipole School (‘I loved it!’) and has fond memories of summers spent on the beach with her family.

“I loved living in Weymouth. I would go on the beach with my mum and grandfather and cousins and mum would bury us in the sand and make us into sand mermaids and stuff.

“I loved Radipole School too.

My best friend was Freya and mum still has photos of us holding hands as we cross the finishing line at sports day. I never liked sports!

“I love Weymouth and like to come down as often as I can.

I have friends there and like spending time there.

“And I always get recognised. Although I spent more time in South Shields I can walk round and no one knows who I am, but in Weymouth people are always coming up to say hello.”

It was Perrie’s mum, Debbie, who convinced her to audition for X Factor.

“X Factor was more scary than this tour,” said Perrie.

“I didn’t want to go on it but my mum dragged me along and I thought ‘that’s it, I’ll have to keep going now’.

“But the thing with X Factor is you do the same thing every week in front of the same audience of your family and friends and that’s quite reassuring and comforting.”

She added: “After we won X Factor we didn’t want to be one of those bands that just disappears for a while and then releases a song for Christmas. We wanted to get out there, get on tour and release a record.”

Perrie, who describes her style as ‘hippy boho’, says “The show is a lot of fun, with different sets and shades of light and dark, depending on the songs,”

Perrie said. “Basically, we want everyone who comes along to have a brilliant time, sing along and then leave on a real high, still singing our songs.”