McHugh told Digital Spy that she was "shocked" that she beat Hollie Barrie to go through to the knockouts in this weekend's show after the duo's performance of 'Sisters Are Doin' It For Themselves'.
"It would never be a song that I'd choose and it's one of those songs that if it came on when I was dancing on the dance floor, I'd probably go sit down because it's just not my thing," McHugh explained.
"I didn't know it – all I knew was the one line 'sisters are doing it for themselves'. I didn't know it and I hadn't had much time to go through it, so literally I was singing it to [mentor] Will [in rehearsals] trying to make it up as I went along and just trying to get a grasp of the melody. And you can imagine trying to do that in front of a superstar is really hard because you're embarrassed.
"To be honest, I was more embarrassed than anything because I felt like I was failing and I was doing it in front of someone that I wanted to impress. So that was hard, but it was mostly that I just didn't know the song, I didn't think I'd gel with the song and it wasn't my usual style."
McHugh, who revealed that she "put every spare minute" she had into rehearsing, admitted that in hindsight she's happy that will.i.am pushed her out of her comfort zone.
"There are a lot of different sides to my voice that I don't always explore or use and it pushed me to use them," she said. "I've got a rocky side of my voice and I think I put a bit of my rocky stuff into that, so I'm glad it happened.
"When I feel insecure about something it pushes me to beat it. That's what I'm like. If I'm threatened or I'm insecure or don't feel confident about something, it pushes me to overcome it because that's my character."
McHugh also brushed off Will's criticisms that the duo were trying to outriff each other, saying: "When I sing I don't really like to riff that much but because Hollie does that kind of thing I felt pressure to maybe put some in so it didn't look like something I wasn't capable of. It's just something that I choose not to do a lot, because I like to sing straight from the heart.
"When I sing, I'm not singing to vocally impress someone – I'm singing to touch someone. I can understand where he was coming from and I think we could both understand that because we were both so in awe of each other's talent and we knew how good the other one was that we thought, 'We can't take a risk and be laid back about this – we've got to go out and give 150%'.
"There were lots of riffs and lots of high notes but I just think it was a bit of a diva-off, wasn't it? It's a diva song and I think it needed a bit of sass and attitudes and riffs."
She revealed that she enjoyed working with Barrie as they got on well, insisting that there was "no animosity" between them.
"We both agreed it wasn't going to be a bitter battle," she said. "It was going to be, 'You bring your best, I'll bring my best, and whoever he picks, he picks'.
"She was lovely. I was willing for her to get a steal. I know what disappointment feels like because I've had knockbacks myself, and I know what it's like to just nearly get there and then not make it, so I was praying that someone would steal her and I even said after my battle, 'She deserves to go through – we've pushed each other and she's amazing and she deserves to be stolen'.
"Unfortunately she didn't get a steal but afterwards she was fine – we gave each other a cuddle and she said, 'Well done' and I said well done to her. But you don't really get to spend a lot of time with them afterwards, so I sent her a text a couple of days later. She's completely fine – Hollie is an upbeat person anyway. She sees the good and the positive in everything so she was really cool about it and really supportive still of me, so that was lovely."
McHugh also revealed that will.i.am "really inspires" her, adding: "He's so creative and I always want to know what he's got to say and I always want to know his opinion and I really value it. Working with him is a pleasure and it's an honour, because he's so talented.
"I've always dreamt of working with will.i.am anyway. I'm just trying to enjoy every single moment that I have with him because his time is precious and I'm so lucky to be getting his time and his mentoring, so it's out of this world."
She also joked that she is "quite good with the metaphor thing", saying: "It's just refreshing to hear things in a different way – not just, 'You need to make that a bit more exciting'. He's like, 'You need to spice that up with some spice mix and a taco!' It's just more fun. His take on things is just fun and challenging, and I love that."
But McHugh admitted that she felt the pressure to prove herself in the knockouts, saying: "I think everybody that got through to knockouts felt a pressure of, 'I need to prove to him that he made the right decision in the battle, but then I need to prove to him that I'm worthy to be taken through to live shows'. You have to really dig deep and decide what you think you have that the others haven't. You've got to dig deep and find something that's going to set you apart. That was really difficult.
"The battles was the hardest emotionally for me because at first I doubted myself, and then knockouts was the hardest challenge-wise because you're trying to set yourself apart from eight people. Only three people go through, and that's a massive challenge.
"You don't know how Will's going to see it – you don't know what he's going to hear when you open your mouth. You might think you're doing everything perfectly and he might just not get it.
"So I think it's the challenge of just opening up completely and leaving everything on the stage and letting people in and just not being afraid to let your barriers down and just give it your 110%. I think that was challenging for me just to completely let go and stop trying to be perfect and just do what I do."
The Voice continues with the knockouts next weekend on BBC One.
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via All - Digital Spy - Entertainment and Media News
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