Rhos-on-Sea dog groomer 'so proud' after Midge appears on BBC One's Pooch Perfect

Viewers saw Midge, who belongs to Graham and Tracey Hughes from Rhos-on-Sea, paired with Kelly, a groomer from Somerset, for the second dog grooming challenge.

After their makeovers, the adorable pooches were paraded in front of judges Colin Taylor and Verity Hardcastle by the groomers and Kelly received glowing comments for Midge's haircut.

Verity said: "This dog wants to make me smile."

Gill has groomed Midge, a Bichon Frise, for five years

Colin added: "She is very cute. That face...you've got sticky out ears, the eye are exposed, that little button nose I absolutely love."

Gill Mair, who runs The Groom Room in Rhos on Sea, has been grooming Midge for five years.

She was delighted to see how well Kelly performed and to see Midge excel.

She even sent a message to Kelly to praise her skills.

"I have attended various seminars where Colin Taylor [one of the judges on the show] has been a speaker," Gill said.

"He put out the advert looking for dogs to enter the show. I advertised this on my business Facebook page and Midge's owners decided to enter.

"They had to fill in an application form, send photos and that is when Midge was shortlisted. They then sent in videos of Midge and she was invited onto the show.

"The production team kept her welfare their priority and contacted her vets and myself. I had to complete various questions on Midge: how long had I been grooming her, did she have any issues with grooming, what was her behaviour like etc.

Mindy and Midge. Mindy is Tracey’s other dog who wasn’t selected but she did put forward both dogs at the same time

"On the day of filming there were welfare officers, vets on site each dog and had a PA. All dogs were treated like royalty."

Gill said Midge has a "lovely sweet little nature".

"She is an absolute pleasure to groom," she added.

"I really enjoyed watching the show as I didn’t actually know what the outcome was or what was going to feature on the show.

"Tracey wasn’t allowed to give any details away so I was so proud when Midge's groomer Kelly won best in show."

Asked if she would have liked to have been a contestant on the show, Gill replied: "I didn't see an advert to enter as a groomer otherwise I would have considered it.

"I carried out my training in 2010 and then volunteered in the shop that I am the owner of now.

Gill Mair runs The Groom Room in Rhos on Sea

"I started my business in April 2011 so it will be my 10th anniversary this year.

"I am hoping to hold a charity event if we can in these uncertain times due to Covid-19."

Gill was keen to stress that her business is in no way affiliated with Pets at Home who have salons with the same name.

Gill, who moved to North Wales in 1998 and took voluntary redundancy from North Wales Police - where she worked in the recruitment department before training to be a dog groomer - hopes the new BBC show, fronted by Sheridan Smith, shows the hard work involved to become a groomer.

"I wouldn’t change my job for the world as I absolutely love it," Gill said.

"My customers were amazed I hadn’t applied for the show and the enthusiasm they have shown me since the viewing is amazing so watch this space!"

Episode two of Pooch Perfect is on Thursday, January 14 at 8pm.