Yorkshire jeweller Emma White of Sunny Bank Mills in Farsley in the final of BBC's All That Glitters

“Lockdown was hard for so many people and while I was crying out for some time alone, others were really lonely and so kept in touch via WhatsApp and also watched All That Glitters together – the final was just as we were allowed to meet up again and we decided to postpone the start of the course and had a party at my house while watching the final.”

She had been asked to apply for the first series but juggling three young children, her school and her jewellery business the timing wasn’t right. But when she was approached second time she decided to go for it and, having beaten off competition from hundreds of other jewellers from across the country,she has made it through to Thursday night’s final.

For White making the final is a dream come true, and something she feared she may never see.

"I had a nightmare in the semi final,” she says. “I just took on too much and was far too ambitious and so I didn’t finish. I really thought my time was up. But I think the strength of my designs over the weeks got me through, which was amazing.”

Her inspirations come from stories she has heard, or the metal itself. She is fascinated by the way it moves and makes her feel.

"I just love people and their stories and I incorporate stories into a lot of my work,” says White, 45, who always wanted to be in the jewellery business.

“My nan was a real glamour puss. She had this amazing jewellery box full of ‘60s crystals and everything sparkly and beautiful. I used to love to have a rummage through there. My mother is also of that ilk, she

she used to make necklaces with us and trawl all the gothic shops.”

She attended art college in her home town of Dundee where she also explored an interest in animation and as a result her first job was working for Bristol-based Aardman Animations on the first Chicken Run film.

"It was a very intense few months, I made a lot of very small chicken legs which all had to be replicas of the life sized version. But my claim to fame is that I am in the credits of Chicken Run.”

From there she headed back north this time to Merseyside where her family originated from and moved in with her Auntie.

"I set up my first workshop making silver sculptures, but then a friend I’d met at University wanted some of my work for a show and asked if I could make some jewellery as well. I was so poor at time so I made a collection and it sold which was wonderful but also meant for the next six years I made the same collection over and over and really started to feel stuck in rut, but its hard when you really need the money.”But eventually she plucked up the courage to make a new collection of jewellery.

"I decided to stamp poetry on to my jewellery. Personalised jewellery was starting to become a big thing and I was already doing it - but then I got stuck again.”

She moved to Yorkshire and decided to open a shop with a friend selling their own work and that of other UK-based jewellers. She also went back to college as she wanted to get a teaching qualification to enable her to pass on her skills to others.

"I set up my own small jewellery school above the workshop.”

But when the recession hit, and her partner wanted out she decided to reassess.

"There was a lot happening in my personal life. I got divorced and then met somebody new, we decided to get married, then I was pregnant. I was teaching, running the shop and then making my own jewellery in the evening all while having young baby, something had to give and so I let the shop go.”Two more babies followed fairly swiftly which meant White didn’t have as much time at her jewellery bench as she would have liked. But after her third child, Mabel was born she set about creating her online business where she showcases and sells her own and other jewellers work.

"Business was really starting go well and Mabel was about to start preschool and I thought at last I would have time to dedicate to my jewellery – but then Covid hit and I found myself in home schooling hell. I know people had it a lot worse but it was tough. I’d home school during the day and then my husband would take over at 5ppm so I could work which I did until about 2am and then I was up again for homeschooling.”

And so when the opportunity arose to take part in the second series of All That Glitters, White didn’t hesitate.

"We knew it would be a big commitment and I’d need to rely a lot on my husband with three children under ten as filming took place over six months, but we agreed after ten years of bringing up small peeple it was my time to do something for me.”

And so she filled in the application form and sent in a video and worked her way though the selection process before eventually receiving a call to say she’d been selected to appear on the show.

"I was actually on a spa day with a friend when I got the call and I couldn’t believe it.”

White says she enjoyed being in front of the camera, but found being up against the clock a challenge.

"There has been some criticism about the programme from the industry saying it is not a fair representation of the profession but at the end of the day it is a competition. Of course you would never make a piece of jewellery in 90 minutes and I think people know that. But I believe it is a great way of showcasing what we do.

"The series made me try things I hadn’t tried before and I learned a lot about myself. It was amazing because for the last ten years, I’ve had three kids. I’ve juggled family life, kids, running the business, teaching and

hadn’t realised that I had lost my creativity a bit. It gave me my creativity back. It was a six month experience and to have that time dedicated to just coming up with new designs, thinking about what I

wanted to make, the whole pressure of lots of people are going to see this, it made me give it a lot of thought. My designs are so much more me and so much more interesting, and I’m so proud of what I’ve

done since. It’s been a gift really and an eye opener.”

Thursday’s grand final of All The Glitters, presented by Canadian comedian Katherine Ryan, will see White and her fellow finalists challenged to design and create a bestselling sapphire engagement ring for a client and make a bespoke, specially commissioned occasion necklace for Strictly Come Dancing judge, Shirley Ballas.

She is now working on a new collection based on the designs she came up with in the series and has a podcast Little Gems on jewellery and Life with fellow contestant David J Lilly. “We just hit it off, not just about jewellery but about life.”

The final of All That Glitters is on BBC Two at 9pm on Thursday

www.thejewellerymakers.co.uk