A DISNEY-OBSESSED girl who grew up idolizing Princess Ariel has achieved her dream — of making a career out of being a real-life Mermaid.

    Redhead Melanie Long grew up with her bedroom walls adorned with pictures of the princess, telling anyone who’d listen that one day she’d be The Little Mermaid.

    Now the 25-year-old has swum her way to success.

    Five years ago, she moved to Phuket in Thailand from her family home in Clydebank, West Dunbartonshire, to work as a scuba diving instructor.

    It put her in contact with a Thai children’s charity that was looking for models to dress as mermaids at a gala ball — an opportunity she grabbed with both hands. She made her own mermaid outfit from scratch, worked on her breathing technique and now makes a living doing her dream job.

    She said, “When I was a kid, whenever people asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I would always say The Little Mermaid.

    “Being a ginger kid you’re open to ridicule and the only hero or princess that we, the ginger people, had to look up to was Ariel. It wasn’t something I had ever actively pursued because I never thought it would be a possibility.

    “So I got into scuba diving thinking that would be as close as I could get to become The Little Mermaid.”

    Melanie spent a year designing and constructing her very own silicone tail similar to those used in films such as “Splash” and Australian mermaid soap opera “H2O.”

    The handmade 1.22-meter-long swimmable tail allowed her to enhance the illusion of a real life mermaid whipping its tail underwater.

    She has since found herself in high demand in Thailand for appearances on television, film and music videos as well as at children’s parties and weddings.

    Melanie is able to swim up to 85 meters under water without coming to the surface for air.

    And the longest amount of time she has been able to hold her breath underwater is an impressive three minutes and 33 seconds without a mask.(SD-Agencies)