Christine Cherry, a Penwortham youth worker, managed to get to the final of The Great Pottery Throwdown.

Her pottery was been described as ‘powerful, brave and poignant’ by the judges.

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In the final, potters were asked to create a garden totem sculpture, and they were given eight and a half hours to create it.

Christine said it was a ‘shock’ to be in the final, and she ‘never expected to be at this stage.’

The theme for her totem was family, people and education.

Read more: Channel 4’s Great Pottery Throw Down sees Penwortham contestant named Potter of the Week

The show took an emotional look into Christine’s past and she spoke with her two sons about how the passing of her father deeply affected her.

One of her sons described pottery as his mum’s ‘happy place’ and spoke of how some of that joy was taken away when her father died during the Covid pandemic.

There was lots to do during the totem making challenge and the energy was fraught, but Christine was joking the whole way through, inspiring the other competitors with her infectious smile.

Christine decided to make a sculpture of her parents to sit at the top of her totem.

The totems were then taken to dry, and competitors were told about their next challenge.

The final three were told they had to pierce a crown, which would test their accuracy.

The potters looked horrified at the prospect of the challenge.

The judges said they wanted to see a good geometric design which would be fitting for the final.

They had an hour to complete it, and it was judged blind.

Unlike her competitors, Christine didn’t plan and went straight into piercing, saying she ‘couldn’t hang around.’

Read more: Penwortham youth worker impresses judges on Channel 4’s Great Pottery Throw Down

Her hands were shaking as she did it, but her hard work paid off as she came first in the challenge, marking the first time she’d won the second challenge in the competition.

The finalists were then instructed to paint their totem, which they spent 13 and a half hours on in total.

Christine’s totem was then judged and was described as ‘bold and brave’, ‘wonderful’ and the judges said they ‘couldn’t have asked for much more.’

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The final three were told that they had ‘hit the ball out of the park’ and Keith Brymer Jones said they’d made it very difficult for them to judge.

AJ was eventually named as the winner of this series, and in an emotional ending, Christine could be seen hugging AJ, and was clearly thrilled for them.

Christine said: “This is the start of something. I’ve got my love of pottery back big time.”

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