We all know what happens to the winners of such find-the-next-West-End-star reality television programmes as Any Dream Will Do, How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria? and I’d Do Anything… they grace the stage with the sweet-sounding singing and delightful dancing for months and months and months… Lee ‘Joseph’ Mead is still getting knickers of amazing colours (and sizes) thrown at him at the Adelphi Theatre, Connie ‘Maria’ Fisher enjoyed a year and a half at the London Palladium before moving on to other projects, and the nation is holding its breath for Jodie ‘Nancy’ Prenger to take us back to Dickensian London in OLIVER!.

But what happens to the losers? Oooh, no, that sounds too harsh – let’s call ‘em ‘close runners-up’. Where are they now? Well, I’m happy to say a lot of them are doing very well (he says smoothly, as if he has Sex and the City-style cocktail nights with them all on a regular basis)…

Rachel Tucker

Who narrowly missed being cast as Nancy, has just landed herself her first West End leading lady role. The Belfast-born brunette bombshell (not easy to say after a few SATC-style cocktails) takes over the part of the sassy rebel ‘Meat’ in Queen and Ben Elton’s hit musical WE WILL ROCK YOU from Monday 22nd September.  She told me (okay, so she told everyone else, too): “It is a dream part. WE WILL ROCK YOU is one of my favourite shows. I first saw it when I was a student at the Royal Academy [name-dropper], and loved it. I am beside myself with excitement. I just can’t believe it.” Well, believe it, baby, ‘cos I’m gonna be there on the front row with a pair of highly aerodynamic Y-fronts at the ready… As the great Freddie Mercury once sung: “I am a sex machine ready to reload, like an atom bomb, about to oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, explode.” Read more