A schoolgirl’s celebrity dream came true when she met her pop heroes at a TV studio.

Eight-year-old Amber Howe, of Chalkwell Road, Sittingbourne, appeared on ITV’s Daybreak alongside members of JLS.

She shared the breakfast show’s sofa with the boyband to talk about a concert organised by Rays of Sunshine (ROS), a national charity which fulfils wishes for sick children.

The Grove Park primary pupil suffers from a complete heart block and is fitted with a permanent pacemaker.

Her young ambition is to be famous so her parents Ali and Melvyn contacted ROS.

The fairytale materialised last month when she was invited to the Lipsy VIP Fashion Awards in London and, to her surprise, waiting to greet her on the red carpet was JLS’s Aston Merrygold.

Amber meets JLS

Ali, 33, who also attended the A-list ceremony, said: “Aston was hiding, then he stood behind Amber and said ‘Are you my date tonight?’

“The look on her face...she was gobsmacked and didn’t know what to say. Her cheeks went bright red and she just looked amazed that he was standing there. She absolutely loves them.”

On the night, Amber was called to present an award to JLS for the band’s charity work and found herself in the company of her idols again last Monday on Daybreak.

A little cowed by the cameras, the youngster was not shy about sharing her high-profile plans with presenter Aled Jones.

Ali said: “Aled asked her what she wanted to be, and she said straight away ‘When I’m older, I want to be a model’.”

Amber, who is one of four siblings, has a pacemaker fitted every “four or five years” to ensure her heart beats at an adequate rate.

It means she gets very tired and short of breath, but the tiny device is keeping her alive.

“I call her my little bionic girl,” Ali said. “The other day, she said, ‘All I need is a bit more metal in my body and I’ll be a robot’.”

Having rubbed shoulders with the band offstage, Amber was due to see her first JLS performance at the Royal Albert Hall on Saturday as part of the ROS concert.

Ali hopes it is the start of a beautiful friendship.

“The band love Amber to bits and really look after her,” she said. “I hope they turn up at my house one day.”