Mamma Mia! Scot Stevie Doc felt like her late mum was with her throughout her time on the ABBA reality TV show.

The 22-year-old made her debut last night in the programme, which is looking for a female and male actor to take over the characters of Sophie and Sky in the London West End adaptation of the movie.

The Glaswegian said her love of musical theatre and singing is down to her mum Gayle, who died when Stevie was 13, and even her own name reminds her of her mum.

Stevie said: “My name is Neve, which went to Nevie, then Stevie. It was my Mum who called me Stevie. When someone says it, my mum is the first thing I think of. It keeps her with me.”

Stevie, who has a tattoo above her elbow in memory of Gayle, said all her family are proud she is doing the show and that her mum – who was a huge karaoke fan – would be thrilled.

She said: “I wouldn’t be doing musical theatre if it wasn’t for her.

“She was always singing and even though she wasn’t a [pro] performer she was a performer in the house.”

Stevie, who is being supported all the way by boyfriend Harry Tullingley, said: “I always thought my mum was very confident – like me, loud and Scottish – but she could be quite shy when she didn’t know people.

“She applied for MasterChef when I was younger then didn’t do it because she was too scared to be on TV.

“She had the talent and, to me, was a very, very confident person but I think being on TV would have been petrifying for her. For me? Not so much.”

The Scot is one of seven performers hoping to land the role of Sophie on ITV show Mamma Mia! I Have A Dream, hosted by Zoe Ball. She revealed some of her earliest memories were singing and dancing in the house with her mum and older sister Karis, 24.

The family didn’t go to London to see big musical theatre shows. Instead, their music came from karaoke.

Stevie laughed: “We had karaoke parties every weekend when I was younger. They would start on a Saturday and still be going on Sunday night.

“I’d be raging because I wanted to go down and sing with my parents and their friends, but I was made to go to bed as I had school on the Monday morning. I hated it.”

There was always music about – thanks to Gayle.

Stevie said: “She sang everywhere. She’d sing in the car or when she was doing housework. There was always music blasting and my mum singing along. You weren’t allowed in the car unless you sang with her.

“My mum did carpool karaoke before it was a thing.”

While the family loved karaoke, none were performers. But when Stevie was in her teens she was egged on by pals to audition for school musical We Will Rock You and was surprised to be given the lead role of Scaramouche. This led to her auditioning for the musical theatre course at the Dance School of Scotland.

She didn’t get in but auditioned again the following year and was successful.

Two years after that she went to London’s ArtsEd drama school and graduated from the three-year course earlier this year.

It was only by chance that Stevie auditioned for Mamma Mia! I Had a Dream. After seeing an advert for the show on Facebook, she decided not to apply. But when someone else in her year at ArtsEd auditioned for it she finally decided to go for it.

She said: “I sometimes stumble into things and I’m a very big believer in, ‘What’s for you won’t go by you’. A lot of things that have happened to me in my musical theatre journey have been accidental.”

The show sees seven female hopefuls battle for the part of Sophie – played in Mamma Mia! by Amanda Seyfried.

Meanwhile seven males, including Perthshire actor Craig, compete for the role of Sky, played in the film by Dominic Cooper. Stevie was thrilled one of the boys was Craig. She said: “The second you meet anyone Scottish you have an immediate connection and become friends. I’d love it if we both won. It’s nice we can show the UK that Scots people can have talent.”

She said the 14 hopefuls became like a family and she made a lifelong friend in another of the girls.

She said: “I now live with Maddy [Erzan-Essien]. She’s become one of my best friends.”

No one left the show last night but in next Sunday’s second episode it’s all about the Sophies as the girls take centre stage and one will leave.

Stevie described host Zoe as a “mum” who helped everyone get over their nerves. She is also full of praise for the judging panel – Alan Carr, singer Jessie Ware and West End stars Amber Riley, from Glee, and Samantha Barks, who was on 2008’s I’d Do Anything.

Stevie said: “Samantha has been in our position. We all want to win but she is a nice reminder what could happen if we don’t.”

● Mamma Mia! I Have A Dream is on STV next Sunday at 6.15pm.