NOT many blossoming pop stars kick off their career by being rejected in front of millions of TV viewers.

But for new stars on the block, Liberty, their rejection from the most famous band of the year proved to be key to the doors of instant stardom.

For anyone who was in deep hibernation earlier this year, teeny boppers Hear' Say were chosen from tens of thousands of young hopefuls who were put through gruelling auditions for the hit TV series Popstars.

The final 10 contestants faced the prospect of becoming instant pop stars with Hear' Say or what was surely set to be instant oblivion.

The five eventual "rejects" were Kevin Simm, Tony Lundon, Michelle Heaton, Kelli Young and Jessica Taylor.

They defiantly stuck together, started writing their own material and wowed Richard Branson into signing them on his label V2.

Their first single Thinking It Over entered the charts at number five and stayed in the top 20 for four weeks and they are just about to take the country by storm on the annual Smash Hits tour which visits Manchester Arena on Monday.

Jessica, who is from Preston, took time out of Liberty's busy schedule for a chat with the BEN.

The 21-year-old feels like her feet haven't touched the ground over the past few months, but she loves every minute of it.

She said: "The whole thing has been really, really mad.

"I have to keep pinching myself so that I know it's not a dream."

She does not regret a minute of having put herself through the Popstars experience and has only good wishes towards Hear' Say.

"Looking back on it, I am really, really pleased I did Popstars.

"It gave me the opportunity to meet the others and gave us a platform to become Liberty.

"I'm glad I didn't get picked for Hear' Say because I couldn't have done this otherwise.

"We have seen Hear' Say in person a lot and actually played on the same bill at Wembley Arena one year to the day since we'd last seen them.

"Everything was cool, but we didn't really discuss music, just personal and family stuff" said Jessica.

Liberty have plenty to look forward to with their debut album To Those Who Wait released earlier this week and visits to Australia, the Middle East and Asia planned for the New Year.

But Jessica remains happiest up North and said: "We're pretty much all northeners in the band which is why we were looking forward to the Smash Hits tour and coming to Manchester.

"We're all based in London now and have had a chance to get out and about more recently, but the price of one drink here buys me a full night out in Preston!

"I'd much rather be out with my mates in Preston any night!"