We’ve been inspired by the story of Jodie Prenger who re-invented herself from being the fat girl teased about her weight to being a star of London’s West End. Good for you, Jodie.
An excerpt from her book, It’s a Fine Life: My Story:
I desperately hoped the winner would be me. Yet my confidence had been knocked. The day before the final, Andrew Lloyd Webber had revealed to a newspaper that Cameron Mackintosh thought I was a bit ‘too big’.
When I read that, I was mortified. For years, I had battled with my weight. I was now a size 14, the average size for a woman, yet I was still being criticised. It really upset me and I started to think I might be out of the running.
We all sang our hearts out on the live show. Sam was voted off first, so it was finally a choice between Jessie and me. Before the viewers’ votes were announced, Graham Norton asked the panel who they wanted to win. I was thrilled when Denise and John chose me, but mortified when Cameron, Andrew and Barry chose Jessie. Did that mean they’d be unhappy if I won?
My breath short, my mouth dry, and feeling as if I was drunk with nerves, we waited for the winner’s name to be announced – and it was. . . me!
I screamed in an almost primal way. Suddenly, I was the lass from Blackpool made good – I was going to be a star of a West End musical. Engaged and with a glittering career ahead of me. Could life get any better?
Well, it could certainly get worse. Once the show finished, my friends expressed concerns about Steve.
Away on a whirlwind tour of interviews and television appearances, I exchanged increasingly fraught text messages with him. In the end, I stopped returning his calls.
And once we split, Steve sold his story to a tabloid paper. I knew there was no
going back – and besides, there was so much to do to prepare for the show. When I met Rowan Atkinson, I was worried he’d have no time for a new girl like me, but he was lovely. I was scared of letting him and the rest of the cast down, but plenty of rehearsals sorted everything out.
On the opening night, the I’d Do Anything team excelled themselves with presents. Denise gave me cupcakes, John sent champagne, Graham arranged purple orchids, and Andrew presented me with an engraved decanter.
Their words of support had me in tears – especially the beautiful message in Cameron’s card, which reassured me that he approved of my casting 100per cent.
One of Cameron’s gifts was a page from the original programme of the 1905 production of the play Oliver Twist. I love it.
A few days before, Cameron had had another surprise for me, one that was better than any material gift in the world.
He came by my dressing room to tell me that Lionel Bart’s secretary had seen one of the previews. Afterwards, she had sent Cameron a letter to say that she never thought she’d see someone embody the role of Nancy as well as Georgia Brown, who
played Nancy in the original production, but that I had played it just as brilliantly.
To hear that from the secretary of the man who had created this incredible show was the best compliment I could have imagined – until I heard the audience applause on opening night.
When I sang Nancy’s signature tune, As Long As He Needs Me, I really gave it my all, knowing that this was my moment to shine. As I performed, I thought about all the men I’d once thought I needed. I sang from my soul.
When the key change came, my heart burst with joy: the crowd exploded into applause as my voice scaled the notes, just as I’d hoped they would. I had done it. I had convinced them that I was Nancy.
The reviews of Oliver! have been great. The theatre is full every night. My family, Andrew and Cameron are proud of me and I love playing Nancy. Life couldn’t get any better for an ordinary girl like me. I’m half the woman I was – but my life is twice as rich. [via dailymail]
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So glad she won, i love her voice and her personality, cant wait to see her in Oliver. I really think she is going to be a shining star and an inspiration to women.