Biography
Jodie Prenger earned a place alongside Connie Fisher and Lee Mead among the overnight sensations of the West End by becoming the third winner of an Andrew Lloyd Webber search series broadcast on television. She entered the world in Blackpool, Lancashire, during 1979 and launched her performing life on the Northern cabaret circuit. Subsequent engagements took her to her hometown Opera House, Alton Towers theme park, and the Disney Cruise Line operating out of Florida. Her 2006 victory in the second series of the weight-loss reality programme The Biggest Loser preceded her greatest breakthrough two years later. Selected for the live rounds of the BBC contest I'll Do Anything, staged to cast a fresh Nancy in Lionel Bart’s Oliver, she prevailed over Jessie Buckley and Samantha Barks in the decisive round even though producer Cameron Mackintosh had voiced concerns that her size would disqualify her from the part. Critical acclaim greeted her two-year run at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, during which she also hosted the National Lottery, issued an autobiography, and filled in for several Radio 2 presenters, until Wicked star Kerry Ellis succeeded her in 2010. That same year she joined John Barrowman, one of the show’s judges, for the duet “So Close” on his self-titled 2010 album, contributed vocals to a fresh recording of Glenn Miller’s “In the Mood” that appeared on his Top Five collection The Very Best Of, and secured the role of The Lady of the Lake in Eric Idle’s Spamalot. Her debut solo single, “Please Don’t Let Me Fall in Love,” surfaced in 2011 as the theme to the sitcom Candy Cabs, in which she also performed.