AN 8-year-old from Bournemouth described his excitement after he starred in a Christmas advert.

Teddy Holton-Frances told how his school friends cheered when they saw him appear in the John Lewis Christmas advert.

“It was amazing,” Teddy said. “The first time we saw it on TV, we were so happy.

“When we were watching something at school, my advert came up and all my friends were cheering me on.”

He appeared alongside Snapper the Venus fly trap in the highly anticipated advert released on November 9.

Teddy is a part of Pure Drama, a theatre group and agency owned and run by his mum, Lizzie.

Bournemouth Echo: Teddy on set in August

Lizzie said the process began in July, when the agency received a secretive casting call for a Christmas advert that was given a codename.

Teddy went through an initial audition via Zoom, alongside a number of other young actors from Pure Drama, before being invited to auditions in London.

Teddy got the part with filming taking place in August in Hertfordshire. The family only knew for certain that it was the John Lewis advert just days before filming began.

“We had our guesses that it might be, but it wasn’t until we signed the contract, which was probably a couple of days before filming, we knew actually, we saw the words John Lewis and Saatchi and Saatchi and we knew that it was the John Lewis Christmas commercial,” Lizzie said.

On filming, Teddy said: “It was really exciting because we had a lot of different cameras.

“Normally when I film, I don’t see that many cameras. This was the biggest advert I’d done because there were so many cameras on me.”

Bournemouth Echo: Teddy with friend Frank, who was on set as his body double.

He added that because the filming was in the summer, he had his own fan with his name on it to keep him cool.

Teddy had previously starred in a McDonald’s advert, and his friends were asking if he was in another one, but he had to keep his starring role a secret.

Lizzie said she thinks the advert is ‘really cool, different and refreshing’.

“What’s really cool for Teddy is seeing Snapper come to life,” she said.

“When we filmed it, it was just a gentleman holding a puppet.

She added: “I just think it’s a charming story about friendship, acceptance and loyalty. I think it’s got really wonderful meaning, as well as being such a wonderful memory for us.”

Teddy is set to continue the festivities appearing in the Christmas Spectacular at the Regent Centre in Christchurch.

During show rehearsals, his castmates have taken to calling him ‘Alfie’ after his character in the advert.