has recalled when he knew 'very special' Oscar winner Jessie Buckley would be a 'huge star' after she appeared on his show I'd Do Anything.
Nearly 20 years before scoring the Best Actress gong for her role in Hamnet, a 17-year-old Jessie launched her career on the Lloyd Webber-helmed reality show, which was a competition to win the role of Nancy in a West End production of Oliver!
During her time on the show in 2008, the star finished in second place behind winner Jodie Prenger - and Jessie has now admitted she struggled during her time on TV, saying she 'wasn't well' and experienced 'unfair objectification'.
Shirking Jessie's claims that she was 'brutalised' on his show, Andrew credited himself for noting her talent, saying: 'I think I knew anyway and I think that everybody else did that this was a very special girl and she was going to be a huge star'.
After regaling his memories on the star, he continued: 'If by any chance beautiful lovely Jessie ever gets to see this... well done darling'.
Andrew Lloyd Webber has recalled when he knew 'very special' Oscar winner Jessie Buckley would be a 'huge star' after she appeared on his show I'd Do Anything
Nearly 20 years before scoring the Best Actress gong for her role in Hamnet, a 17-year-old Jessie launched her career on the Lloyd Webber-helmed reality show, which was a competition to win the role of Nancy in a West End production of Oliver! (Jessie pictured on the show)
After regaling his memories on the star, he continued: 'If by any chance beautiful lovely Jessie ever gets to see this... well done darling'
Andrew's address to the Oscar winner comes after she claimed she was 'brutalised' and experienced 'unfair objectification' during her I'd Do Anything stint.
The actress, now 36, told Vogue: 'I was 17. I was in a moment of discovery...
'As women, it's such unfair objectification ... Back then, I was just trying to move into a space of myself. I really hope that a 15, 17, whatever-age woman never has to be brutalised quite like what happened on that show...
'But I didn't recognise it fully at the time. I just felt it, which was difficult. It's bonkers, in hindsight. I was just like: "Oh my God. I get to peek behind this curtain already. I get to sing. I get to be part of this industry that I really was hoping I could be part of.'
Dismissing her words, while sat at a piano, Andrew said: 'I just wanted to say how absolutely thrilled I am that won Best Actress at the Oscar's last night.
'I've known Jessie for years, ever since she was on the television programme I recorded I'd Do Anything, I'm so completely overwhelmed by the whole thing when I heard it that I went on and found the little clip of her doing The Man That Got Away all those years ago...
Andrew's address to the Oscar winner comes after she claimed she was 'brutalised' and experienced 'unfair objectification' during her I'd Do Anything stint
'I remember having a big row with the about saying that I really wanted her to sing that song and I just remember that she took the roof off the building...
'That was the moment I think I knew anyway and I think that everybody else did that this was a very, very special girl and she was going to be a huge star so she hasn't just won the Oscar, she won everything but if by any chance beautiful lovely Jessie ever gets to see this, well done darling.
Jessie has never courted fame or fortune and keeps details of her home life, including the full names of her husband and their eight-month-old daughter, hidden from the world - bar a shout out during her acceptance speech.
The Daily Mail discovered this week that Jessie's husband is Freddie Sorensen, 47, who worked as a producer before leaving the industry to work in mental health.
She is also notoriously careful about the work she chooses, often juggling West End stage shows with low-key television series and film roles in which she can showcase her other passion: music.
Those close to Jessie wonder if there is a reason behind her cautious approach to fame and the way she shuns the spotlight that is inevitably coming her way.
Speaking on Irish radio this week, her father Tim Buckley, a poet and hotel bar manager in the family's hometown of Killarney, County Kerry, said being in the public eye and speaking on stage at awards ceremonies 'wouldn't be her favourite thing'.
He added of his daughter: 'She has to psych herself like a boxer before going out there.'
After regaling his memories on the star, he continued: 'If by any chance beautiful lovely Jessie ever gets to see this... well done darling'
