Simon Cowell's latest signing is about to take the charts by storm - one hundred and twenty years AFTER she died. Yes, that's right! Seventeen year old (at time of decease) Millicent Jenkins - now known as "Mill-E-Cent" - is all set to become the world's first ghost pop superstar.
Cowell "discovered" the stunning ex-chamber maid haunting the dining room of former stately home Gasterton Hall Country House Hotel when he went there for a mini-break last July.
"I knew right away there was something special about her," the impressario told us. "There was something about the way she glided through my bowl of cornflakes that oozed star quality."
Gasterton Hall, where Millicent was foully murdered in 1887 - her remains are believed
to be still buried in a shallow grave somewhere in the grounds.
"Of course her image was hopelessly out of date," he continued, "so I had to get in a team of stylists to give her a makeover. Actually it was quite difficult finding people that would be willing to work with a spirit!" Cowell laughs ruefully. "But we managed it eventually and I think the result speaks for itself..."
He pauses. "Unlike Milly, unfortunately. She only seems to be able to moan 'The knife! The knife!' - which can get a bit tedious in interviews. We're working on it though."
Before and after spectral photographs of Milly
"Mississipi" Calum
Fielding 1865-1889
The new image has brought Milly hoards of admirers, and it even looks like romance might be on the cards after she was snapped by paparazzi leaving The Ivy with the ghost of American riverboat gambler Calum Fielding (shot dead in an argument over a card game in 1889).
Cowell's giving nothing away: "Her private life is her own affair, but he seems like a nice young man."
"The Knife! The Knife!" adds Milly.
But not everyone thinks Mill-E-Scent should be allowed to perform. Reverend Hugh Entwhistle of Gasterton Parish Church, for one, has been outspoken in his disapproval of the scheme:
"Frankly the whole idea is distasteful. The poor young thing shouldn't be made to look ridiculous like this. Mr Cowell is showing a massive lack of respect for the past in promoting this travesty - there's no way she's ever going to be as good as Jerry Halliwell."