EastEnders star Jacqueline Jossa gets a taste of the West End in ITV’s All Star Musicals show
SHE may be a famous EastEnder, but Jacqueline Jossa has always fancied making it in the West End.
Now the actor’s dream has become reality after being snapped up as the big-name signing for two special episodes of All Star Musicals.
Jacqueline — married to axed Towie star Dan Osborne — has already filmed her slot on the ITV show.
She was left devastated in 2020 when her debut treading the boards in A Christmas Carol was cancelled because of Covid. Now this is a chance to show off her stage skills.
A TV insider said: “Jacqueline has a belting voice and she loves singing and it’s always been her first love.
“There are very few credible shows in which actresses can show off their voice on primetime telly these days, so when ITV asked if she wanted to do All Star Musicals she jumped at the chance. She blew everyone away.”
Jacqueline — who shares daughters Mia and Ella with husband Dan — told The Sun ahead of her 2019 triumph on I’m A Celebrity . . . Get Me Out of Here that she wanted to become a singer.
She spent eight years playing Lauren Branning on the EastEnders, before quitting in 2018 alongside on-screen sister Abi, played by Lorna Fitzgerald.
ITV bosses are airing two All Star Musicals — one over Christmas and the second, starring Jacqueline, in the New Year.
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The festive special will see other celebs including Fern Britton, Ben Miller and Anita Rani sing musical numbers helped by a series of theatre powerhouse coaches.
John Barrowman is returning to host both shows, despite ITV axing him from his judging role on Dancing On Ice after allegations that he exposed himself on the set of Doctor Who.
Good luck, Jacqueline.
Jason's copped it at gig
HE’S used to seeing audiences in stitches – but at one gig Jason Manford nearly saw two punters in handcuffs.
The comic has revealed how one of his shows had to be stopped when cops searched his audience for suspects in a nearby robbery. The incident, in Blackburn, happened as people were arriving for his gig and police thought the criminals may have joined the crowd.
Jason said: “There’d been a robbery of a jewellery shop at the time 1,500 people were coming into the venue. The police had to search the audience.
He added: “If they’d planned it, they’d have gone ‘Right, Manford’s on at 7.30, we rob the jewellers, then we assimilate into the crowd’.”
Plus, they’d have known he usually has a packed house.
Cumming back to his home
HE left Scotland for Hollywood – and now Alan Cumming admits he is being drawn back to his homeland.
That’s largely thanks to his new Channel 4 show in which he goes on an adventure north of the border with actress Miriam Margolyes.
Alan said: “I try and get back a few times a year. I was there in August and October.”
In Miriam And Alan: Lost In Scotland, which begins tomorrow night, the X-Men actor and his actress pal take to the road to rediscover their roots.
He added: “Being Scottish, there’s this very primal thing that makes you always miss home, miss the history and spirit of it. I think doing this show made it even stronger.”
The three-part show was almost as emotional for Miriam. She said: “I was very moved by coming back to where Alan lived. I hadn’t known about the history of his life and I met his mother who talked to me about it all. “Things like the haggis too – going into a real shop and making a real haggis! That’s something I never thought I’d ever do in my life.”
Just wait till she’s tried a deep-fried pizza.
A nurse? Tess cut and run
SHE’S seen some sights on Strictly, but Tess Daly says she only ended up as a presenter because she could not stand the sight of blood.
If she hadn’t been so queasy as a teen, she reckons she would have been a nurse instead of working in showbiz.
Speaking in Derbyshire Life mag, Tess said: “I did think of becoming a nurse, I really did. It seemed like a likely option. Then one day my sister Karen cut herself and there was a lot of blood.
“I felt faint and sick when I saw it, so that put paid to those ambitions .”
Their loss is Strictly’s gain.
Kym thrilled son is to wed
FORMER Coronation Street star Kym Marsh has just got married to Army Major Scott Ratcliff and now she has another reason to celebrate.
Because her son David is also ready to tie the knot after proposing to his girlfriend, Courtney.
And they’ve both got his mum’s blessing.
Announcing the news on Instagram yesterday she said: “Anyone that knows us knows how protective I am of my children and I ALWAYS thought I would not like any of David’s girlfriends haha! How wrong I was.”
David is the eldest child of Kym, who is best known for playing Michelle Connor on Corrie.
She has four children from three marriages and became a grandmother in 2019, when her eldest daughter Emilie Cunliffe gave birth to her first child Teddy.
TV BIT
SKY Max will have the UK premiere of its Chucky series on December 3 – at the suitably late time of 9pm.
The horror story, which kicks off with a double bill, revisits the chilling cult movie tale of a doll found at a suburban yard sale just before a series of murders takes place.
Sheridan sparkles for ball
SHERIDAN Smith can pull off any outfit – even this number that looks like she is wearing chainmail pyjamas.
The Cilla actress put on a dazzling performance in every sense of the word at the Rock On Show in Blackpool on Saturday to celebrate the life of late comic Bobby Ball.
All funds from the show, which also starred opera singer Russell Watson and Bobby’s former partner Tommy Cannon went to The Bobby Ball Foundation.
Sheridan’s outfit would be worth a bob or two if you took it to a scrap metal dealer.
Abbey to say Lily's a star
DOWNTON Abbey writer Julian Fellowes turned a few fledgling actors into big-name stars with his ITV period drama. But none quite as successful as Lily James.
She played Lady Rose Aldridge on the Bafta-winning show from 2012 to 2015 before going off to much bigger things.
Speaking on Lady Carnarvon’s Official podcast, Julian said the actress – who has since starred in Cinderella and Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again – was always shrewd in the roles she picked.
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He added: “Lily James in our own series, you know, made a series of terribly good choices and also they were hit after hit. The partsshe took were very varied.
“She is now a straight copper bottom movie star. It was good picking – she’s very charismatic and a good actress. But there’s also an element of what was given her to do.”
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