NEXT Sunday, it will be revealed whether Malvern has its very first number one selling artist in the Official Top 40.

Cher Lloyd – who this time last year was unknown to those outside her home town – will be fighting it out against the likes of Beyonce and The Wanted for the top spot in singles chart.

Her debut Swagger Jagger goes on sale tomorrow – and her family are all hoping it will do well.

Indeed, there is a giant bottle of champagne sitting in the corner of the family’s living room, waiting for the results of next weekend’s chart.

“We’re nervous and excited,” said mum Dianh Lloyd. “We’ve got a bottle of champagne and we’re going to open it when a single gets to number one.”

Dad Darren Lloyd said: “We just hope it goes well. We’ve heard predictions for the album but we have not asked about the single.”

And if Cher’s “brats” have anything to do with it, that number one single will happen next Sunday.

Cher’s brats – for the uninitiated, a name inspired by X Factor judge Simon Cowell calling Cher one herself – are her loyal troop of fans who will jump to her defence at all stages.

“It’s just nice to know they are there for her,” said Mr Lloyd.

Mrs Lloyd said: “Without her fans, she couldn’t make her music.”

In an interview with the Guardian earlier this week, Cher – who turned 18 on Thursday – was praised for her wide knowledge of music, something which doesn’t surprise her parents.

“It’s all she’s ever done,” said Mrs Lloyd. “From the minute she was awake, it was music, music, music.”

Her parents say Cher was completely obsessed with music, hearing a tune and coming up with the lyrics on the spot.

“And then she’d then run off to write them down,” recalls Mr Lloyd.

It detracts somewhat from the image of a manufactured artist which many – including rapper Example – have accused her of being.

Having heard the album and knowing which single is coming next, Mr and Mrs Lloyd are confident if Swagger Jagger doesn’t get to number one, the next one will.

If they’re right, the Lloyd family will have to get used to life in the spotlight.

A recent trip to the supermarket almost ended in chaos when Cher was mobbed.

“It was just two kids in the beginning,” said Mr Lloyd. “By the time we’d got up the second aisle, we had to get security.”

In the end, the police were called and the family were given an escort around the shop.

And then there’s the fan mail. The family’s postman sometimes has to alter his route because of the amount of fan mail she receives.

He will often make the Lloyds’ home in Malvern Link his first stop of the day to off-load some of the mail that Cher receives each week.

The family keep all the fan mail – answering what they can and keeping the rest until she returns home for a visit.

“We’ve got three massive bags at the moment,” said Mrs Lloyd. “When Cher comes home she gets a conveyor belt going to sign everything.”

But with the recent death of singer Amy Winehouse after a long and very public battle with addiction, are the Lloyds worried that their daughter will fall into some of the less savoury trappings of fame?

“No,” they say, both shaking their heads.

“We are not worried, she’s got a good head on her shoulders,” said Mr Lloyd.

And Mrs Lloyd adds: “She’s got good support from her management and she’s got us.”


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Watching their sister’s fame doesn’t appear to have inspired her siblings to follow her down the same path.

Brother Josh is starting a sports course at college, hoping to make a living out of being a footballer, while youngest sister Rosie is thinking about working in the care industry and Sophie – who starts her GCSEs in September – has just joined the police cadets with the intention of joining the police force.

She even has a German shepherd puppy – rather different to Cher’s chihuahua puppy Barbie – because she would like to work in the dog section.

It would seem that despite their eldest daughter’s fame, the Lloyds are keeping their feet firmly on the floor.

Even when Cher tried to buy her dad – who she describes as her best friend – a new Range Rover Sport for Father’s Day, he declined, eventually talking her into buying a rather less expensive used model.

“A pair of trainers would have been fine,” he smiles.