HANDBELL ringers Alan and Gay Cooper struck a chord with the great British public after appearing on Britain’s Got Talent.

The couple have become overnight stars after capturing millions of hearts with their musical love story and passion for bellringing.

Ten million viewers saw Mr and Mrs Cooper’s tear-jerking performance of Celine Dion’s My Heart Will Go On from the blockbuster movie Titanic on Saturday night.

And their audition has already been watched 240,000 times on YouTube.

The Wallingford couple, who met at a recorder class and love handbells so much they played them at their wedding, are being stopped in the street and asked for photographs since shooting to stardom on the ITV show.

The couple faced a bemused reaction when they arrived on stage at Birmingham’s Alexandra Theatre armed with their collection of handbells.

But when they started performing, the audience and judges Michael MacIntyre, Amanda Holden and David Hasselhoff began to sway, sing and cheer.

Baywatch actor Hasselhoff described their rendition as “absolutely breathtaking”.

Mr Cooper, 59, a scientist at HR Wallingford, said: “It was very intimidating, because we are not used to playing to crowds like that.

“You do have to be brave.”

The 59-year-old, who is the musical director of Wallingford Handbell Ringers, added: “At work on Monday, some people were really impressed, and some people said we must have been crazy to go on.”

The couple met when Gay started recorder classes in Watlington in the mid-1980s.

Mrs Cooper, 52, said: “Alan was the best player there. He only had a push bike at the time, and he used to phone me every Friday after work and ask for a lift to Watlington for the recorder class.”

When she moved temporarily to London, Mr Cooper took up handbell ringing, and soon the couple had caught the bug.

They have been performing as the Aeolian Chimes duo for 12 years, and bell-ringing played a big part at their wedding in 2007.

They are now waiting to hear whether the judges will put them through to the live semi-final and the ultimate prize of appearing in the Royal Variety Performance.