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 HOAR 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.
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.
