A DORSET farmer who swapped the tractor cab for prime-time television is preparing to take to the stage in the grand final of Britain’s Got Talent after winning over millions of viewers.

Ben Chick, 27, from Sixpenny Handley, has made it through to Saturday night’s live final as part of the Hawkstone Farmers Choir, following a crowd-pleasing semi-final performance that earned the public vote.

The 34-strong choir of farmers from across the UK secured their place in the final after performing Bastille’s Pompeii, earning a standing ovation and glowing praise from judge Simon Cowell, who described it as “one of the most beautiful, incredible productions we’ve had on this show for years”.

The Hawkstone Farmers Choir are thrilled to go through!

For Ben, a third-generation farmer at Manor Farm on the Dorset-Wiltshire border, reaching the final is about far more than showbiz success.

“Getting through the semi-final on the public vote means everything,” Ben said. “It tells us that people across the country recognise what farming families are going through right now, and that they want to back us.

“Every vote was a message that rural Britain is being heard, and that is what we are taking with us into the final.”

The choir was formed to raise awareness of rural mental health and suicide prevention; an issue Ben said is close to home.

“We are walking out on Saturday night to sing for the people in our industry who are not here anymore, and for the ones who are still struggling in silence,” he said.

“If one farmer watches the final, picks up the phone and tells someone how they are really feeling, then the result on the night is almost beside the point. That is the only score that matters to us.”

Ben (right) with Jeremy Clarkson.

Ben joined the choir while battling chronic fatigue, describing it as a lifeline during one of the toughest periods of his life.

“The final is the biggest moment of this whole journey, but the truth is the choir already changed my life long before we got here,” he explained.

“The rehearsals, the friendships, the shared honesty in the group, that is what has kept me going. Saturday is about taking that message to as big a stage as we can get.”

Away from television, he helps run the family’s 400-hectare arable farm and is also behind plans for Chalk & Padel, a proposed indoor padel club near Sixpenny Handley.

While Ben rehearses for the biggest performance of his life, his father David has stepped in to help keep the farm running during one of the busiest times of year.

“Spring is one of the busiest periods on an arable farm, so the fact that the family has backed me through this means a huge amount,” he said. “None of this happens without them.”

The Britain’s Got Talent grand final airs on Saturday (May 30) with the choir competing for a £250,000 prize and a place at the Royal Variety Performance.