An interesting article!

PANTO'S SNOW JOKE SAYS NEW POSH-VOICED NIAMH

NIAMH Perry has ditched the accent that helped make her famous, but fans of the I'D Do Anything star needn't worry that fame has gone to her head.

Despite moving to London and working alongside the Don of musicals, Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber, the Bangor lass hasn't lost her twang for good.

Instead, her cut-glass English accent is all part of an act for her new role as Snow White in panto.

Niamh said: "I would have preferred to have my native accent, but if I was Snow White from Bangor it wouldn't really work very well.

"Everyone here constantly takes the mick. There are a couple of lines which the Dame and 'her' son speak in an Irish accent, just to throw me.

"I expect them to do more of that as the weeks go by. I collapse easily, so I'll probably end up as a ball on the floor."

Following in the footsteps of Girls Aloud star Nadine Coyle, who has hung onto her thick Derry accent, Niamh says she has no intention of dropping her real accent.

Niamh said: "After the TV show, I got signed to an agent who told me 'Never lose your accent because it defines who you are and it's very distinctive.' "I'd hate to lose it anyway," she said - in her strong Northern twang.

In seven months the former A-Level student has gone from basking in the warm glow of compliments from Nancy judges as she performed for millions of viewers to doing panto in the cold, oldaged pensioner haven of Eastbourne where's she appearing at The Devonshire Park Theatre.

Sitting in her tiny dressing-room, she said: "It's freezing here. I'm surrounded by old people. I've never seen so many old people in my life."

But the 18-year-old songtress doesn't see her current situation as a fall from celeb status, instead she is viewing it as an ideal training ground to build a successful career.

Niamh said: "People are like 'Oh you're doing panto... that's a shame'. But I don't think there's anything to defend.

This is probably the hardest job I'm ever going to do because we have 52 shows in less than a month, including three shows on Saturdays.

"In any form of celebrity status, I'm at the complete bottom of the ladder.

I wouldn't call myself a celebrity whatsoever; just someone who's known a little bit from TV."

The New Year looks to be just as hectic as her gruelling panto schedule as the Co Down schoolgirl turned singer makes her bid to shed her 'Nancy' tag and become a established singer in her own right.

She's already setting down tracks for her debut album, which is being kept tightly under wraps.

Niamh said: "I'm not revealing too many details because this is one of those things that could go either way. It could all go belly-up in the next six months.

"I'm working with the producer Nick Webber who's become a close friend.

"I have to have six tracks done by February, and four are recorded already. If I do end up making an album, I want it to be something I'm so ridiculously proud of and that's so relevant to me, rather than singing songs that are catchy and a bit too poppy.

"It's kind of indie, slightly rocky with a bit of pop thrown in. It's completely different to musical theatre."

Indeed, Niamh looks likely to land the role of Fleck in Phantom: Love Never Dies, in her mentor Andrew Lloyd Webber's sequel to The Phantom Of The Opera, which is set to open in London late next year.

She's been working on the production since being voted off I'd Do Anything in May.

"It's not set in stone and I haven't signed a contract or anything. It's also a small character, not a lifechanging role.

"But if it happens for me, it'd be a world premiere, an original cast, an original soundtrack, and it'd be working for Andrew Lloyd Webber.

"It's stunning and I think it's better than the first Phantom which I never thought I'd say because I love that show.

"The songs are iconic and the music is some of the best I've ever heard.

"With this, I feel I stand as an artist in my own right rather than as a Nancy."

In a weird twist of fate Niamh doesn't mind losing out to Jodie Prenger who won the Nancy role: "I don't think any of the things that have happened for me would have happened had I got Nancy.

"Everything has turned out for the best.

"I've done a couple of concerts with the I'd Do Anything girls - a bunch of Nancies, basically - and I'm not doing any more.

"I need to get away and be seen as an artist in my own right. It's time to let that go."

However, Niamh is still mates with her former rivals and is sharing a London flat with Welsh girl Tara Bethan.

"Some I'm closer to than others, but I love all of them dearly. They're all really talented in their own right, and I think that's why there wasn't so much bitchiness because we were all so different."

Her Nancy friendships also appear to be genuine - she jumped to the defence of Nancy winner Jodie Prenger whose engagement and subsequent messy break-up to IT consultant Steve Greengrass was played out in the news.

Niamh said: "I've never met someone like her boyfriend that can deceive so many people, and pretend to be someone that he's not.

"Jodie is a very good friend of mine, and I hate to have to watch her get so hurt.

"It's funny how one person can set out to ruin something.

"She didn't write any horrible articles about him."

Meanwhile, the teenager's love life with English singer and actor Luke is proving a bit complicated...

Niamh said: "There are issues I'm dealing with at the minute, and I'd prefer not to talk about it.

"Not bad issues though. I'm very happy, although we're not living in the same country at the minute so it's hard.

He's working away, but I've been keeping myself busy."

No matter what the outcome of her romantic life, going to dinner with mentor and maestro Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber is one date the ambitious young star will continue to keep. She has come a long way from being star struck to becoming like an adopted member of his family.

"When I first saw Andrew in the flesh I thought I was going to keel over. But it's got to the stage now that when I see him it's like 'hi' - it's one of those things you have to get used to.

"He's just so lovely. He's been great to me. He's got quite a fatherly way towards everyone he works with.

"Not long ago, I went out for a Chinese meal in London with Andrew, his two sons, one of their girlfriends, and I was thinking 'What am I doing?' "Me and one of his sons walked in first and asked for a table for five and they were like 'Have you booked?' Then Andrew walked in...

"The manager served us and everyone turned to look at Andrew. Walking into a restaurant at home, one person might turn around and look at you. But when you walk into a restaurant with Andrew Lloyd Webber well..."

Niamh sat her A-Levels just five days after I'd Do Anything. She explained: "I wanted some qualifications to "fall back on. For all I know this career could last just all of four or five years.

"I'd love to be really successful, but you look at people like Kate Moss and Sienna Miller who have paparazzi outside their house every day.

"I probably couldn't deal with that, but in my line of work I don't think that's going to happen."

Even if super-stardom doesn't darken her door the girl hasn't done badly for someone who was just another schoolgirl doing her homework less than a year ago.

Interesting what she says about the style of music on her album. And if the thing about the phantom sequel turnes out to be true, that's great for her (even if it means I'd have to actually see that show I was so hoping for her to get Eponine in Les Mis )

Thanks for posting this gingerbread- its a really interesting article
Her album sounds like its going to be very different to anything we've heard her sing before- sounds good though and its great that she might get another role soon

Thanks very much! Nice read.

"It's kind of indie, slightly rocky with a bit of pop thrown in. It's completely different to musical theatre."

Sounds good!

"Everyone here constantly takes the mick."

Taking the mick out of Niamh? OUR NIAMHIE?? nooooo!!

oh i love this, it tells us SOO Much!

"It's kind of indie, slightly rocky with a bit of pop thrown in. It's completely different to musical theatre." - now that's my kind of music!

and she's rooming with Tara? who would have thought

wow thanks ginger! her album sounds like its gna be great!

aww shes got a bf! Ben wont be happy!

Not your "thing" though is it Ricky. "Indie, slightly rocky". Hardly Rihanna! That's how i would describe Travis. "indie, slightly rocky with a bit of pop".
And she says there are "issues" Ricky. She's obviously not found Mr. Right yet. I know. Because she hasn't found me yet.

Jess, i agree. Album certainly sounds like it could be good. I'm glad it doesn't seem to all be big swooping ballads. A couple is nice but it's nice to do something a bit unexpected too.

I don't know enough about non-musical theatre music to judge, but methinks it sounds like the kind of music I might listen to if someone told me I had to pick something other than showtunes Are 'swooping ballads' completely off the cards now then?

I love the "what am I doing?" while out with ALW and family

I assumed that it was Niamh and Keith that are a couple, what with them being partners in Dancing In The Street and then doing Only The Brave together AND being in the same agency...well, my assumption just went right out of the window! I didn't know she had a bf, but then again she's soooo pretty she's bound to have one, bless her =3

oh i made a post awhile ago about her dating Luke Kempner, but now on facebook it says she's single.

This is literally the same interview, but there are a few things which weren't in the first one. They're quite amusing actually! I'll highlight the bits which we haven't seen before:

SEVEN months after coming fifth in the BBC TV audition series I’d Do Anything, Belfast beauty Niamh Perry is starring in Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs in the retirement resort of Eastbourne on the south coast of England.

Sitting in her tiny dressing room, she says: "It’s freezing here. I’m surrounded by old people. I’ve never seen so many old people in my life."

Posters of the show are displayed all over the area, and there’s a small gathering outside the Stage Door of The Devonshire Park Theatre after each performance.

But Niamh says: "In any form of celebrity status, I’m at the complete bottom of the ladder. I wouldn’t call myself a celebrity whatsoever; just someone who’s known a little bit from TV. Before I’d get stopped. But it’s gotten to the stage now where people just look at you.

"They know they know you from somewhere, but they’re not quite sure where from. I don’t like that as much, because you could be an axe murderer and they’re still looking at you that way."

As one of the 12 finalists on I’d Do Anything, Niamh hoped that by now she’d be playing Nancy in the West End production of Oliver! Instead it’s 29-year old Jodie Prenger from Blackpool.

"People are like ‘Oh you’re doing panto… that’s a shame’" says Niamh.

"But I don’t think there’s anything to defend. This is probably the hardest job I’m ever going to do because we have 52 shows in less than a month, including three shows on Saturdays."

And things are actually looking rosy for Niamh — her post panto plans start with putting together a debut album she’s already been working on.

"I’m not revealing too many details because this is one of those things that could go either way. It could all go belly-up in the next six months. I’m working with the producer Nick Webber who’s become a close friend.

"I have to have six tracks done by February, and four are recorded already. If I do end up making an album, I want it to be something I’m so ridiculously proud of and that’s so relevant to me, rather than singing songs that are catchy and a bit too poppy.

"It’s kind of indie, slightly rocky with a bit of pop thrown in. It’s completely different to musical theatre."

Niamh also looks likely to land the role of Fleck in Phantom: Love Never Dies, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s sequel to The Phantom Of The Opera, which is set to open in London late next year. She’s been working on what she calls Phantom 2 since being voted off I’d Do Anything in May.

"It’s not set in stone; I haven’t signed a contract or anything. And it’s a small character, not a life-changing role," she admits.

"But if it happens for me, it’d be a world premiere, an original cast, an original soundtrack, and it’d be working for Andrew Lloyd Webber. The songs are iconic. The music is some of the best I’ve ever heard. And, with this, I feel I stand as an artist in my own right rather than as a Nancy."

Niamh has got a few hardcore admirers, who’ve followed her from I’d Do Anything to the musical Only The Brave at the Edinburgh Fringe in July, and a requiem in London in November, and have turned up to see her in Eastbourne.

"People come to the stage door at the end of every show. It’s really flattering, but very overwhelming. It does shock me. Not even a year ago, I was still doing my homework!"

Bangor girl Niamh was born on June 10 1990. Her mother Zaron is a nursery school teaching principal, her father Liam is a secondary school principal. Her sister Ciara, 21, is at university in Liverpool.

Five days after leaving I’d Do Anything, Niamh returned to Our Lady & St. Patrick’s College, Knock, to take her A levels. She got B Grades in Music & Drama and a C in Sociology.

"I did my A levels so I have something to fall back on," she explains. "For all I know this career could last all of four or five years if I’m lucky. Then if I was stuck with no qualifications to go to uni to get a degree, I could end up…"

Whether or not Niamh meant to add "out on the streets", she does admit to having lived "out of a suitcase" since leaving ‘the Nancy house’.

And most of her belongings are still in Belfast. "I haven’t completely moved over yet. I decided not to until after panto. In hindsight I probably should have moved over ’cos I haven’t stopped working, but I didn’t realise I’d get as much as work as I have, and I’ve probably spent 95 per cent of my time in London.

"After this (panto), I’m gonna have to get my skates on and find somewhere. I might be renting somewhere in London with Tara (Bethan, another I’d Do Anything finalist) and two other people.

"I’d love to buy somewhere but I just don’t have about £30,000 to put a deposit down."

Yet the competing Nancies were paid by the BBC and Niamh confesses: "I splurged a little when I got out of the (Nancy) house. I bought lots and lots of clothes — so many that I had to get another suitcase."

And besides, she does have a spectacularly wealthy ally in Lord Lloyd Webber.

"When I first saw Andrew in the flesh I thought I was going to keel over. But it’s got to the stage now that when I see him it’s like ‘hi’ — it’s one of those things you have to get used to.

"People ask ‘What’s Andrew Lloyd Webber like?’ He’s just so lovely. He’s been great to me. "He’s got quite a fatherly way towards everyone he works with.

"Not long ago, I went out for a Chinese (meal) in London with Andrew, his two sons, one of their girlfriends, and I was thinking ‘What am I doing?’

"Me and one of his sons walked in first and asked for a table for five and they were like ‘Have you booked?’ Then Andrew walked in and it was like ‘Ohhhhhhh!’

"The manager served us and everyone turned to look at Andrew. Walking into a restaurant at home, one person might turn around and look at you. But when you walk into a restaurant with Andrew Lloyd Webber…

"I’d love to be really successful, but you look at people like Kate Moss and Sienna Miller who have paparazzi outside their house every day… I probably couldn’t deal with that. But in my line of work I don’t think that’s going to happen."

Niamh is appearing in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs at the Devonshire Park Theatre in Eastbourne until Sunday, January 11

For some reason I find the comment about the "axe murderer" hilarious!

Thanks a lot Zippy.

I can't go running off over and around Britain but i'd love to think she knows we're still here and supporting, from afar. I wonder if she ever does pop in here...

And yet again another version of this same interview has just popped up! But about half of this is new stuff we haven't seen before and some of the stuff she says is really interesting! Again, I'll put the parts that weren't in the others in bold.



Seven months after coming fifth in the BBC TV audition series I'd Do Anything, Bangor beauty Niamh Perry is starring in Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs in the retirement resort of Eastbourne on the south coast of England.

Posters of the show are displayed all over the area, and there's a small gathering outside the stage door of the Devonshire Park Theatre after each performance. But Niamh says: "Before I'd get stopped. But it's gotten to the stage now where people just look at you. They know they know you from somewhere, but they're not quite sure where from. I don't like that as much, because you could be an axe murderer and they're still looking at you that way."

As one of the 12 finalists on I'd Do Anything, Niamh hoped that by now she'd be playing Nancy in previews of the London production of Oliver!, which opens this Wednesday. Instead, that is 29-year-old Jodie Prenger from Blackpool.

But things are actually looking extremely rosy for Niamh. Her post-panto plans start with putting together a debut album she's already been working on with the producer Nick Webber, who's become a close friend.

"A guy I met from a record label said, 'Working in the studio, it's necessary to have a strong bond with whoever you're working with because it's like you're stripped naked as the stuff you write about is so personal'," explains Niamh.

"This [album] is not to say musical theatre is going to go out the window, because obviously that's where I've started and I have such a strong passion for that."

Indeed, Niamh looks likely to land the role of Fleck in Phantom: Love Never Dies, Andrew Lloyd Webber's sequel to The Phantom Of The Opera, which is set to open in London this autumn.

She's been working on what she calls Phantom 2 since being voted off I'd Do Anything in May last year.

"The show is set on Coney Island 10 years after the last Phantom ended," she says. "It is without a doubt a masterpiece in its own right. I'm probably biased because I've watched it progress, but it's stunning and I think it's better than the first Phantom, which I never thought I'd say because I love that show."

All of which explains why, if you ask Niamh if she's now glad she didn't get to win I'd Do Anything, she replies: "I suppose I am, but I don't mean it like, 'I'm better than that', because I'm not. It would have been a great opportunity, but I've been very lucky."

However, Niamh is still mates with her former rivals, particularly Jodie, whose popularity on the series increased from the third week when she got engaged to IT consultant Steve Greengrass ... and that engagement ended a month after the show ended, with Steve claiming in the tabloid press he'd been 'used' by Jodie, who'd dumped him by text.

But Niamh says: "He turned out to be a very horrible person. Those articles came out when me and Jodie were working together on the first Phantom 2 workshop. Had it been me, I'd have been in bits. Jodie was obviously visibly upset to us, but if she was ever asked about it she said, 'No comment'."

Niamh's sensitivity on this subject may be because she herself recently began her first ever relationship, with an English singer/actor called Luke.

So, is he The One?

"I don't know," she says. "I'm only 18 and this is my first serious relationship, so probably not. I think if I settle down at this stage, I'd be a bit of a fool. But I've met his parents and he's meeting mine soon."

This is more than Niamh intended to reveal about her personal life. "I was dreading you asking about boyfriends," she admits. "Before I started on Phantom 2, I did one of these interviews with someone from back home and then an article came out which said, 'Niamh moves to London to mend a broken heart'. Yet at that stage I didn't have a boyfriend ... there was no previous relationship.

"I didn't have a huge amount of interest before [I'd Do Anything]. It wasn't like I was repulsed or anything, but I was constantly busy with am-dram stuff at home and didn't have much time to socialise.

"There probably was a little bit of interest, but I didn't really see myself as a catch before I did I'd Do Anything.

"Not that I see myself as one now, but then I wasn't very comfortable in my own skin.

" I don't think I look that different now, although I am more comfortable in my own skin. The reason I'm in the relationship I'm in is because the person I'm with doesn't know me as Nancy. That's important."

Niamh has already attracted a few hardcore admirers, who've followed her from I'd Do Anything to the musical Only The Brave at the Edinburgh Fringe in July, as well as a requiem in London in November and her Eastbourne panto.

"People come to the stage door at the end of every show," she says. "It's really flattering, but very overwhelming. It does shock me. Not even a year ago, I was still doing my homework."

Fortunately she's not received any hardcore fanmail yet - none that she's aware of anyhow.

"During I'd Do Anything, our fan mail was censored," she reveals. "The BBC opened it before it got to us, in case there was anything [dodgy] in it. There was some stuff we weren't allowed to see.

"The BBC didn't tell us what that was, and quite right because when you're about to do a live show, the last thing you want is to hear is that you've had a dirty letter sent to you. For all I know there may not have been any for me, but there were definitely some that had to be discarded. If I did get anything disturbing, I would be pretty disturbed, but I hope I don't give off the vibe that I'm that type of person."

Bangor girl Niamh was born on June 10, 1990. Her mother Zaron is a nursery school teaching principal, her father Liam is a secondary school principal, and her sister Ciara (21) is at university in Liverpool.

Five days after leaving I'd Do Anything, Niamh returned to Our Lady & St Patrick's College, Knock, to take her A levels. She got B grades in music and drama and a C in sociology.

"I did my A levels because if this career didn't work out and I was stuck with no qualifications to go to uni to get a degree, I could end up ..." she explains, pointedly not finishing the sentence in a nod to the precarious nature of showbusiness.

Whether or not Niamh meant to add "out on the streets", she does admit to having lived "out of a suitcase" since leaving the Nancy house. And most of her belongings are still back home here in Northern Ireland.

"I haven't completely moved over yet," she says. "I decided not to until after panto. In hindsight I probably should have moved over because I haven't stopped working, but I didn't realise I'd get as much as work as I have, and I've probably spent 95% of my time in London.

"After this [panto], I'm gonna have to get my skates on and find somewhere.

"I might be renting somewhere in London with Tara [Bethan, another I'd Do Anything finalist] and two other people. I'd love to buy somewhere, but I just don't have about £30,000 to put a deposit down."

Yet the competing Nancies were paid by the BBC and Niamh confesses: "I splurged a little when I got out of the (Nancy) house. I bought lots and lots of clothes - so many that I had to get another suitcase."

Niamh even still has the distinctive red dress she wore on I'd Do Anything.

"I kept my Nancy dress, but we are not allowed to use it in public - we had to sign contracts, etc," she says. "It's more of a keepsake, and it's hanging up in my bedroom."

After our interview, Niamh rushes into a voice warm-up for the panto and I pop into a nearby pub for a spot of lunch.

Ten minutes later, Niamh turns up in the pub but doesn't see me sitting there.

As she orders drinks to take away, she's chatting loudly on her mobile phone about our interview.

I should have shouted, in true panto tradition: "Behind you!"

Now, that would have made Snow White blush.


At that last bit. And I so remember that article she complains about in it! It was posted here somewhere, and I remember being sort of suspicious about it and I mentioned that it seemed over-dramatic and that we should just read the direct speech.

aww bless Niamh! I wonder why they weren't allowed to wear their Nancy dresses? I thought about the Joseph coats - it's not like the BBC had any use for it, seeing as they were specially made for ADWD but the Josephs would look pretty weird walking out on the streets with a coat like that...so Niamh's dress is framed on the wall? I wonder how many dresses she was allowed to keep off IDA *ponders*

I bet she wasn't able to keep any of the other dresses. They usually re-use them i think. Chop bits off and re-make them into something else and stuff. But i'm no expert when it comes to dresses! They do that sort of thing on Strictly Come Dancing apparently.

I really can't wait to hear the album. I hope it's good. I hope they keep it more natural sounding instead of that techno, electro thing we already know.