John would do anything with Nancy winner
John would do anything with Nancy winnerTHE search for Nancy may be over for television viewers but not for John Barrowman who successfully pinned his hopes on Blackpool lass Jodie Prenger.
In an exclusive print interview with the Birmingham Mail, John revealed that when he told Jodie he was looking forward to working with her he meant it.
"We have already started looking at a project together," John said while in Birmingham this week to promote the pantomime Robin Hood.
"I am not prepared to say more than that at the moment but it will probably be a concert of some sort."
Torchwood actor John, who backed Jodie despite Cameron Mackintosh and Andrew Lloyd Webber favouring her rival Jessie Buckley, admits it did become a little heated towards the end of the televised talent hunt I'd Do Anything, which concluded last Saturday night.
"Jodie was the public's Nancy," says John, who returns to Birmingham Hippodrome after his successful run as Aladdin last Christmas.
"I don't know what it was that Cameron and Andrew didn't like about Jodie. What it showed is that they are a little bit out of touch with what the people want to see."
And he admitted that Jessie's family are unlikely to be in his fan club.
"Jessie's dad lunged at me after the show," he says. "But I understand that because he wanted his daughter to win.
"Jessie is talented but she is not ready for that role. It is a really tough part and if you put a girl from an Irish farm straight into doing that every day in the West End she won't be able to take the pressure."
And now the I'd Do Anything pressure is off, is John looking forward to a break?
"I am really busy," he says. "We are doing Maria in Canada, I am doing a programme for Animal Planet about dogs and we have series three of Torchwood in August. I am also doing another album and then it is Christmas and Robin Hood."
Which explains why he will be less visible to fans in Birmingham than last year.
"You know last year it was crazy at the stage door," he says. "There would be 250 people there looking for autographs and it was actually causing traffic problems so I won't be doing that this year. "It was great and, apart from a couple of people who were quite offensive and rude, everyone was so nice but you do have to go and eat at some point.
"So what I will be saying this year is that if anyone wants a programme signed, or anything else they have bought at the panto or a photo, if they send it with a SAE to the address on my website they will be signed."
Joining John on stage in Robin Hood will be Birmingham comedian Don Maclean and Titan the Robot.
Robin Hood plays from December 19 - February 1