A MUM from Witney has beaten thousands of others to make it into the finals of a popular TV Christmas contest.

Florist Tracey Cutts, 28, spotted the competition online earlier this year.

It involved making a Christmas wreath for the TV show Kirstie’s Handmade Christmas, and her friends all suggested she should give it a go.

She emailed a photo of a Christmas wreath she had made, and was overwhelmed when she received a reply to say she had made the final four, and was invited to Powderham Castle in Devon for filming.

While in Devon she also met the show’s presenter, Location, Location, Location star Kirstie Allsopp.

Mrs Cutts, who runs Distinctive Petals florist from her home in Apley Way, said: “I saw all these posts popping up on social media and all my friends said I should enter.

“I emailed my picture and then got a reply back asking me to come to a castle in Devon to be filmed.

“Just being in the castle and on a film set was surreal – it was amazing.

“Apparently there were thousands who applied to the competition, so it’s incredible that they picked me.”

On the day Mrs Cutts, and three other finalists, were given three hours to create the perfect Christmas wreath while being filmed by camera crews.

She added: “It was petrifying at first but everyone made me feel very calm.

“I was so scared with everyone around me filming but it was really exciting.”

The mother-of-three also works as a lecturer in floristry at Abingdon & Witney College, which she has only recently started.

She has owned her Distinctive Petals business for six years and lives at home with her husband Stuart and three daughters – Imogen, five and three-year-old twins Brooke and Isla.

In the New Year she plans to start her own floristry school, inviting people to learn how to create their own floral arrangements.

Mrs Cutts said this competition has made her want to enter a few more.

She does not know whether she has won the overall competition yet and will be invited back to Devon soon to find out.

This year’s festive Kirstie’s Handmade Christmas is expected to air on Channel 4 at the beginning of December.