BURY busker Nick Bold will play to his biggest-ever audience this weekend when he takes centre stage on ITV's popular Stars In Your Eyes.

He will perform under the guise of the late Beatle George Harrison in the highly-rated show fronted by compere Matthew Kelly.

Nick said: "I'm a busker, or street entertainer. I've been doing that for the past three years. I do it full-time and go around Bolton, Manchester, Chester and sometimes York. I play mouth organ, but it's mostly vocal and guitar.

"I've been a musician for 20-odd years and I've done other normal jobs. I was a taxi driver before that. But I hated all that really and I just wanted to do my music full time."

Nick, of Tottington Road, continued: "People love it because I take pride in it. I've got a good sound and I usually have an amplifier and microphone. It's not just some sort of beggar with a dog in the road. People really respond to it and thank me. And I make a living out of it."

Asked why he decided to perform on Saturday's (Feb 7) TV show as George Harrison, Nick explained: "I've always loved the Beatles and people have often said I resemble him. Actually, it came about because two ladies approached me in St Ann's Square, Manchester, and said I should go on Stars In Your Eyes because to them I looked like George Harrison.

"I thought I'd nothing to lose, so I made a CD and sent it off. Out of 30,000 people they whittled it down to 50, and I'm one of them."

Apart from the apparent likeness to Harrison, who lost his battle with cancer in 2001, Nick feels his voice also bears a striking similarity to the late musician. "I'm such a Beatles fan anyway that I naturally sing in that way, really. So it was effortless."

Nick will be accompanying himself on acoustic guitar during his performance of My Sweet Lord, which topped the charts for five weeks in 1971 when the busker was a schoolboy. The song is also part of his street repertoire.

The ITV programme is being screened at 6.25pm tomorrow.