Most ten-year-old gypsy girls face a childhood that is spent being groomed to become homemakers and wives who simply care for their husbands and children.
This is the future Rihann faced until her mother Anne from South Wales made the decision to defy this gypsy tradition and sends her back to school so she can learn to sing, dance and act.
Anne wants Rihann to have a different life and fulfill her dream of becoming a star and make it big in Hollywood.
Anne claims she was bullied by other gypsies for having these ‘unconventional ambitions’ and she made the decision to take Rhiann out of school.
However the ten-year-old has been left with the reading age of a four-year-old and when she is faced with the task of learning lines for an audition she fails and the result is heartbreaking for mother and daughter.
Realising she has jeapordised her daughter’s future, Anne refuses to give up, and they make the decision for her to return to school.
Anne said: ‘I want to see her be successful in life. The way I look at it is, if she can sing, she can dance and she can act then she has got a good future.’
Rihann has dreams of fame and stardom but her struggle with reading his holding her back when it comes to learning her lines
The six-year-old would love to appear on Coronation Street. Her mother, Anne, is determined to help her succeed
‘Nearly all traveller girls are just cleaning up and when they get to a certain age and they’re wanting to get married,’ Anne explains in Channel 5’s Gypsy Kids, a series about what it is like to grow up as a traveller child.
‘I don’t want that kind of life for my daughter, I want her to enjoy life and earn her own money.’
She adds: ‘It’s a little bit of pressure for her, but you never know she might be a Hollywood actress and she will make it one day.’
Rihann is just as keen on reaching the lofty heights of stardom and takes extra dance and drama lessons in a bid to follow her dream of securing a part on Coronation Street.
Her parents are also getting her used to the showbiz lifestyle, as Rihann explains: ‘I got a mam that spoils me and I’ve got a dad that spoils me.’
When Rihann heads to her audition nerves get the better of her and she fluffs the lines as she struggles to read
Her grandfather Wisdom watches over his grandchild as she plays around in the miniature car she has
The youngster is already used to being spoilt as she has her own car and a quad bike that her parents gave her
She’s already got her own transport in the form of a miniature car and a quad bike.
Anne dreams of Rihann’s success, revealing that she wants her daughter to achieve more than she did as a youngster: ‘I want to see her be successful in life.’
But it takes work, and the mother-daughter duo put hours in to rehearsing a script that was sent to them ahead of an audition for a top children’s agency in London.
‘At the moment I have to help her to learn the scripts. It’s got to all be from memory,’ Anne explains.
‘She is determined to do it. She stayed up one night until ten o’clock constantly going on the script.’
Rihann’s mother wants the very best for her daughter getting her dancing and extra drama school lessons
When she realises that not being in school is jeopardising her career, Anne sends her daughter back in their bid for fame
But nerves get the better of Rihann and her audition goes awry, leading to disappointment all round.
But more determined than ever Anne comes up with a masterplan and sends Rihann back to school – and to prove to the bullies that she isn’t going to hide.
Rihann gains confidence and her extra classes start to pay off, and fame and fortune is one again in her sights – and the youngster has since had some starring roles.
‘When I want to get older I just want to be famous. When I walk out of that door that I want everybody to notice me.’
Gypsy Kids: Our Secret World airs next Thursday, September 21 on Channel 5 at 9pm