Red carpet for Jessica Robinson at The Mall

SHOPPERS could be forgiven for thinking that reality TV star Jessica Robinson had swapped her dreams for stardom for a job in a fashion store.

The 18-year-old singer from Normanby got behind the till at Top Shop in The Mall in Middlesbrough.

But Jessica admits that although she loves shopping she has no plans for a life in retail.

It was all part of a whistle-stop tour of venues across the town in recognition of her efforts in putting Middlesbrough on the map.

The teenage star of BBC’s Over the Rainbow show was being given the red carpet treatment by the lovemiddlesbrough campaign.

After enjoying lunch at the Thistle Hotel, she visited the Pandora jewellery shop in Captain Cook Square and Top Shop in The Mall.

While she was in Top Shop one shopper who recognised her remarked that she didn’t know Jessica was working there.

She hasn’t got a job there but told the Gazette: “It would be lovely. I spend half my life in here.

“I love shopping. It is one of my biggest hobbies.”

Brand manager Sophie Jobson-Bell joked: “As soon as there is a job at Top Shop we will give her a ring.”

Then it was off to Middlesbrough College to meet assistant principal Martin Peagam, who presented Jessica with a goody bag.

The last leg of her tour took her to Middlesbrough FC’s Riverside Stadium, where she was presented with a signed Boro shirt and the promise of a dedicated brick on the Boro Brick Road.

Claire Wordsworth, lovemiddlesbrough campaign manager said: “We’re truly lucky in Middlesbrough to have some fantastically talented and enthusiastic people who love telling the world how great their home town is.

“Jessica’s certainly done that, and this is an opportunity for the town’s ambassadors to say a big thank you.”

Captain Cook Square general manager Lynn Stainsby said: “I watched Over the Rainbow and thought she did a brilliant job to get as far as she did in such a major competition.”

Jessica said she was currently spending some time out with friends and family on Teesside.

She also took to the stage at Middlesbrough Music Live on Sunday with local favourites The Wildcats of Kilkenny for a Pogues-inspired show.

She is due to go to stage school in London in September.

Jessica said: “I got that off my own bat. I really worked my socks off.

“I didn’t get a place there because of the show, I got there on my own.”