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The first scenes from highly anticipated new reality show MAMMA MIA! I Have A Dream have been revealed, with Zoe Ball joining the contestants in Greece.
The ITV show will see 14 hopefuls compete to be cast as Sophie and Sky in a new West End adaptation of the Mamma Mia movie.
Named after the iconic ABBA song and filmed on the Greek island of Corfu over eight weeks, the contestants live in a Greek villa as they take part in the competition.
The sneak peak shows the contestants being put through their paces in a high energy choreographed dancing and musical number to Mamma Mia.
Host Zoe Ball, who earns £980,000 a year for her Radio 2 breakfast show, said: ‘Greece, beautiful island, sun and sea, and the home of the iconic Mamma Mia.
New show: The first scenes from highly anticipated new reality show MAMMA MIA! I Have A Dream have been revealed
Host: Zoe Ball joins the contestants in Corfu, Greece for the show filmed over eight weeks
‘We’re here to find out who will become the next iconic Sophie and Sky in the West End.
‘But who has what it takes?’
Seven boys and seven girls will have to impress Judges singer Jessie Ware, comedian Alan Carr, Frozen star Samantha Barks and Glee’s Amber Riley.
They will also perform in front of producer and creator Judy Craymer, marking 25 years on West End, as the musical marks 25 years on the stage.
The live finale will be broadcast from a West End theatre in a dramatic conclusion to the show’s first season.
Contestants Desmonda, Esme, Leah, Maddy, Maisie, Stephanie & Stevie; and Callum, Craig, Darcy, Marcellus, Owen, Tobias & Zachkiel will all battle it out from this Sunday at 6pm.
It comes as Zoe gave an exclusive interview to the Mail On Sunday in Corfu ahead of the launch.
Speaking about getting the time off from her radio show, she said: ‘There was a bit of a nervous wait but luckily Radio 2 are huge Abba fans, we play a lot of Abba and Helen [Thomas] my boss at Radio 2 is a huge Mamma Mia fan and said, ‘You’ve got to do it, it’ll be so much fun,’ so I moved holidays and we made it all work.’
MAMMA MIA! I Have a Dream launches this Sunday at 6pm on ITV1, STV and ITVX
Line up: lan Carr, Jessie Ware, Amber Riley and Samantha Barks form the judging panel
Setting: The ITV show will see 14 hopefuls compete to be cast as Sophie and Sky in a new West End adaptation of the Mamma Mia movie
Impressive: The sneak peak showed the contestants singing and dancing to a high energy number
MAMMA MIA! I Have A Dream: MEET THE CONTESTANTS!
THE SOPHIES
DESMONA
AGE: 27
FROM: Indonesia
WHY DO YOU WANT TO PLAY THE ROLE OF SOPHIE? ‘It’s about MAMMA MIA! itself because musical theatre is not a big thing in Indonesia. Movie musicals on the other hand, are super popular. People love MAMMA MIA!’
LEAH
AGE: 20
FROM: Redcar
WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE ABBA SONG? ‘The ABBA song that I can relate to is ‘Slipping Through My Fingers’ because growing up it was always me and my Mum. She brought me up as a single mother and we were constantly together.’
MAISIE
AGE: 22
FROM: Margate
TELL US ABOUT YOUR MUSICAL THEATRE JOURNEY UP UNTIL NOW ‘I have three sisters and when I was younger my mum put us all into musical theatre classes and I absolutely fell in love.’
STEVIE
AGE: 22
FROM: Glasgow
WHAT DOES APPEARING ON MAMMA MIA! I Have a Dream MEAN TO YOU? ‘When I told my family I was moving to London, no one was surprised. I’ve always been quite ambitious, but this is something I could never have imagined.’
THE SKYS
CALLUM
AGE: 22
FROM: Oxfordshire
TELL US ABOUT YOUR MUSICAL THEATRE JOURNEY UP TO NOW: ‘My musical theatre journey is relatively limited up until now. This feels like dipping my toes into the musical theatre world for the first time.’
DARCY
AGE: 23
FROM: Hampshire
WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE ABBA SONG? ‘My favourite Abba song is definitely ‘Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!’ – if you’re on a night out, the moment that beat hits you know it’s going to be a great night!’
OWEN
AGE: 25
FROM: Belfast
WHAT DOES APPEARING IN MAMMA MIA MEAN TO YOU? ‘The ten year old boy who was scared to tell his mates in his classroom that he’d seen MAMMA MIA! three times at the cinema would be beside himself! It means the world.’
ZACHKIEL
AGE: 21
FROM: London
WHY DO YOU WANT TO PLAY THE ROLE OF SKY? ‘I’m excited to bring a new essence, a new flair to the character. I want to respect the character – MAMMA MIA! is so famous, everyone has an idea of what Sky and Sophie are like and you can stick to what people know, that’s fine, but you’re also allowed to create and I want to add my own spin to it.’
ESME
AGE: 22
FROM: London
TELL US ABOUT YOUR MUSICAL THEATRE JOURNEY ‘I left school at 16 to go train in musical theatre in a college in Liverpool, and this is really where I found my love for the industry.’
MADDY
AGE: 20
FROM: Bolton
WHY DO YOU WANT TO PLAY THE ROLE OF SOPHIE? ‘I would love to play the role of Sophie because I admire her a lot as a character, as she’s always so bubbly and headstrong and she cares a lot about the people she loves!’
STEPHANIE
AGE: 22
FROM: St Albans
WHAT DOES APPEARING ON MAMMA MIA! I Have a Dream MEAN TO YOU? ‘To see a musical set in Greece showing Greek traditions is so nostalgic to me and to make my family proud doing what I love with my heritage would just be incredible.’
CRAIG
AGE: 26
FROM: Perthshire
WHY DO YOU WANT TO PLAY THE ROLE OF SKY? ‘It’s such an iconic role – Sky is a chilled guy and I’m excited about the energy the TV show is going to give to the stage show and want to be a part of that.’
MARCELLUS
AGE: 36
FROM: High Wycombe
TELL US ABOUT YOUR MUSICAL THEATRE EXPERIENCE UP TO NOW? ‘I made a decision in 2016-17 to never work unless it was performing. I said that if I love it that much, if I want it to work then I’m going to go in. I’ve been performing ever since, sometimes on, sometimes off, but I keep going.’
TOBIAS
AGE: 22
FROM: Somerset
WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE ABBA SONG? ‘Does Your Mother Know.’ Between jobs I work at Archer Street which is a bar in Soho where you sing on the tables and that is one of my favourite songs to perform. In terms of song that sums me up, I think ‘Take A Chance’ because it’s quite cheeky!’
