Sky Arts First Love

Starting on 24 January 2012, the series on Sky Arts reveals how some top British stars started out with very different career dreams - to become musicians. The programme examines what drove their passion and also how they ended up choosing a different path.

Guided by top mentors, the celebrities are given the opportunity to retrain, with each programme culminating in the star giving a live performance to a playing audience at prestigious music venues and festivals.

The first episode looks at Sue Perkins, who as a child was encouraged to learn the piano. Despite reaching Grade 8 by the age of 14, she gave up, after being humiliatingly upstaged in a school assembly.

Mentored by international virtuoso Paul Lewis, Sue has just four months to perfect the second movement of Beethoven’s Pathetique Sonata in front of 500 discerning classical music fans at The Cheltenham International Music Festival.

Other celebs in the series include actor Stephen Mangan reacquainting himself with the guitar and DJ Carl Cox taking up piano.

For more information, and to see clips of upcoming episodes, check out the First Love page on the Sky Arts website.