Natasha Bedingfield has talked about meeting Sam Ryder for the first-time in person following them getting to know each on TikTok.
British singer-songwriter Bedingfield, 41, said she first met the Eurovision singer in real life at BST (British Summer Time) Hyde Park festival on Friday.
Following her set, the artist told the PA news agency that TikTok star Ryder has “a lovable kind of thing” about him.
She said: “I met Sam. I met him over the pandemic from TikTok and he was at the show tonight and that’s the first time we actually met physically.”
Ryder was the UK entrant for the Eurovision Song Contest in 2022 and placed second, having been beaten by Ukrainian act Kalush Orchestra.
Discussing TikTok and what it is like to see people discover her music on there, Bedingfield said: “I have some fun on TikTok. I like it.
“I like the whole TikTok mental health and BookTok and I find it quite an enjoyable thing and a way of connecting.”
In spite of this, Bedingfield, known for the songs These Words and Pocketful Of Sunshine, believes that young artists still need to “hustle” to make their way in the music industry.
She said: “I think it’s still a challenge, just because you have millions of followers on TikTok you still have to kind of hustle, maybe hustle even more on your own.
“Back when I was 18, you’d have a label tell you you’re great and then kind of do all the hustling for you.
“I had to hustle, though, for sure, like I had to show up and turn up and do crazy schedules and promotion and stuff but, I think, even more now, you kind of have to kind of brainstorm and figure it out yourself who you are.”
Bedingfield also confirmed that she has been in the process of making new music.
“There’s no kind of, like, announcement of when it will come out,” she said.
“So you never know and that’s kind of the world we’re in right now where music can just come out.
“So I’ve got some incredible songs and I’m happy to say that I feel confident and I love writing, I could keep writing forever.
“It’s a great time with music – you can just put music out and connect with people and the control is in your hands which is really what Unwritten is about, you know.
“That feels very poetic to me that TikTok and things like that, the next generation are rediscovering songs like Unwritten.”
Unwritten, which was released in 2004, saw a resurgence on TikTok when users started to post videos dancing along to the song.
Bedingfield has more than 450,000 followers on TikTok and often posts videos of herself singing and duetting fan videos.
The vocalist performed at BST before headliner Billy Joel, known for songs Piano Man and Uptown Girl.