An outspoken singer/ songwriter and a much -loved community choir leader from Pembrokeshire is one of the new stars of the hit S4C version of Gogglebox.

Molara Awen, 58, appears alongside her daughter Maisie, 21, and son Finn, 23, on the second series of the hit S4C show, Gogglebocs Cymru.

Molara lives near Crymych, where she raised her family and founded One Voice Choir in 2005 to celebrate her love of international singing techniques.

Molara spends her time running singing groups and choirs, for SPAN Arts and the Stroke Association among others, and campaigning for racial equality and social inclusion in the arts.

She is also the current Chair of Black History Cymru 365 and contributed to the Welsh Government’s Race Equality Action Plan (REAP).

Welsh learner Molara, who was born in Glossop in Derbyshire, said she’s not known for holding back and will always speak her mind.

“I think we all have a very dry sense of humour and we’re very sarcastic. Basically, we’re gobby northerners who say what they think!” she said.

“Maisie screams a lot. If she gets over excited, she starts screaming and flapping her arms – she nearly deafens me!

“I’ve always been a fan of Gogglebox. I’m a Welsh learner so it’s good for me to be watching TV in Welsh, especially shows based in the north. It will expand my vocabulary - I’ve even started to go back to my Welsh class.

“I’m nervous about the extra attention but I’m really going to enjoy it because my kids have both flown the nest and moved to Bristol and it will mean we can meet up once a week and do nothing but chat and watch TV.”

Maisie, who now lives in Bristol, is in the first year of a four-year apprenticeship at the Royal United Hospital in Bath to become a mechanical engineer.

Welsh is her first language and she co-authored the Welsh language novel ‘Cat’ in lockdown in 2021 alongside author Megan Angharad Hunter (part of the Y Pump series) – an opportunity she says sprung from her mum’s ‘amazing connections’.

“We’re all quite strong personalities – well definitely my mum and me! My brother is a bit more chilled,” she said.

“We’ve always done the TV watching thing together anyway, every Friday we had a film night. Since I moved a year ago, we’ve not had that time together.

“We’re very loud. We all have very different opinions. I can be very judgmental!”

Feminist Maisie, who attends Wiltshire College and & University Centre’s Chippenham Campus one day a week, says she hasn’t considered the impact her appearances on the show could have on her life.

“I’ve not even thought about it – right now I’m trying to take on a world full of men as a female engineer!” she joked.

Her brother Finn, a bar worker who lives in Bristol, is feeling more apprehensive.

“It’s never been a major ambition to be on the TV – I’m usually more of a background person,” he said.

“But I think it will be really cool to have the opportunity to speak Welsh regularly again as there’s not such a need in Bristol.

“We all have our own input. I can be quite cynical sometimes but mostly I sit back and listen to what happens between the other two!”

Gogglebocs Cymru, the Welsh Gogglebox, was nominated for a BAFTA Cymru award.

Now in its second series, the run has been extended from 11 to 15 episodes which will be broadcast in two blocks.

In addition, there are five more groups - families and friends – this year, giving producers an ever-greater spread of opinion across a wide range of programmes.

The first six shows are being shown at 9pm on Wednesday nights in October and November before taking a break and returning for a celebrity Christmas version on December 27 and a further eight episodes from February 14 next year. The programmes are once again narrated by comedian and broadcaster Tudur Owen.

Gogglebocs Cymru is is made by two Gwynedd-based television production companies, Cwmni Da, in Caernarfon, and Chwarel, from Cricieth.

Producer Huw Maredudd, from Cwmni Da, said the team was looking forward to laughing and crying again with both the new and returning households.

“We’re very proud of all the different people that we managed to find and now we’re back even bigger and better and will be reaching out even wider and showing even more diversity and expanding the range of shows.”

Sioned Wyn, Director of Chwarel, added: “It’s groundbreaking. Not only are people discovering S4C content that perhaps they wouldn’t have watched before, for the GoggleBocs’ contributors themselves it has been pretty life changing,” she said.

“Everybody has found it pretty life-affirming and transformative, and their confidence has improved. People are already getting recognised and are being asked for their autographs - they’re loving every minute of it.

“It’s been one of the most inspirational shows I’ve ever worked on. The figures speak for themselves – we quadrupled the viewing figures for that slot. The next challenge will be to keep it fresh.”