Andrea Liguori: Meet The Real-Life Little Mermaid

Andrea Liguori: Meet The Real-Life Little Mermaid
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Andrea Liguori from Hernando, Florida, has realised her childhood dream of becoming a real-life mermaid.

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The 19-year-old became obsessed with becoming a real-life Ariel after watching a performance of The Little Mermaid at Weeki Wachee Springs in Florida when she was just three-years-old.

Things progressed from there and now she can regularly be seen sporting a full-on fishtail.

Weeki Wachee - or "The Only City of Live Mermaids" as it is often referred to - is one of the smallest cities in America with a population of about 12 people.

How it counts as a city we're really not sure, but it does draw in thousands of tourists each year thanks to the Weeki Wachee Springs park where professional female drivers have performed as mermaids since 1947.

According to the MetroAndrea would beg, and beg AND beg her parents take her to see the mermaids all the time. In fact, she visited so often that she soon knew the routines off by heart.

She explained: "I'd wanted to be a mermaid from the first time I saw the show at Weeki Wachee - they looked so graceful and magical."

And at the grand old age of eight she got her chance to enroll in mermaid school. Yes, that is a real thing.

"Mermaid school was an experience of a lifetime," she said. "I got to wear a tail, swim in the spring and meet the mermaids - it was everything I expected and more."

Andrea was a regular mermaid school attendee over the years until a position opened up to become a full-time mermaid.

After a successful interview and trial, she was offered her dream job ahead of around 50 other applicants – and now performs for tourists from all over the world.