MIDLANDER Jemma Pixie Hixon had always dreamed of becoming a singing star.

But, despite her beautiful voice and talent for song-writing, the 20-year-old, from Malvern felt she would never be successful because she developed agoraphobia.

The condition hit her so hard she was too frightened to face the outside world and has been unable to leave her house for two years. Now, thanks to the internet, Jemma has become a star in China and Japan.

More than two million people have watched her performances on YouTube from her makeshift recording studio in her bedroom.

She performs a mixture of covers of chart hits and her own songs, and last month, one video achieved ‘most viewed’ status in China.

She said: “For the last two years I’ve been struggling with agoraphobia. I used to perform all the time and I really wanted a way I could continue. I decided to put my songs up on YouTube so I could share them with lots of people, even though I’m still housebound.’

Jemma, who lives with her parents Tonia, 50, and Mark, 49, in a six-bedroom detached home, has never suffered stage fright and once sang on live television.

She said: “When I was 13 I won a competition on The Saturday Show on BBC1 to sing with the Sugababes.

“I sang on live TV and it didn’t bother me at all, but I just turn into a big panic ball when I try to leave the house.”

Jemma hopes her internet fame will make it easier for her to conquer her fears. She started suffering panic attacks when she was just six years old and gradually her condition worsened.

It meant she has had to turn down invitations to sing at weddings abroad. She has seen dozens of psychologists and hypnotherapists but they have so far been unable to make any breakthrough.