Wigan schoolgirl star of BA ad dreams of acting career

For a year now the face of Daisy Hilton has been appearing on our televisions in publicity for British Airways.

So big a hit has it been that the company that made the ad has produced a behind-the-scenes film and is bidding for it to be extended for another year.

In it the 13-year-old Hawkley Hall High School pupil from Winstanley plays Jules, three stages of whose life are covered during the 60-second piece. You first see her as a baby, a pre-teen (as played by Daisy) and as an adult, with all of them jetting off on holidays around the world. The parents were played by the same actors who were aged for different scenes.

Titled First Flight, it was actually filmed back in November 2023 when Daisy spent a week on location in the Mallorcan city of Palma. And she loved every minute of it.

Daisy, who lives with parents Philip and Helina and younger siblings Xavier and Savannah, said: “It was great and I would love to do more acting. I am just choosing my GCSEs and will definitely be doing drama!

"I appeared in school productions at primary school but the thing that really got me into it was joining Wigan Willpower Youth Theatre when I was seven.”

Daisy’s skills have been honed by the famous company and she has appeared in many of its productions.

She also has an agent in the form of Kate Twist at Intercity Casting and it was through her that she has landed several auditions.

Her first screen appearance was in a YouTube advert for a children’s messaging app and then she was put forward for the BA ad, firstly submitting a video of herself for audition and then being invited down to London for a recall when the candidates had been whittled down to the last two or three.

Philip said: “We are very proud of her. The advert has been going for a year and yet it looks like they’ve got a two-week extension and are pushing for it to be shown for another year.”