Jodie: I'll buy a thank you card for the whole country
Monday, 02 Jun 2008 11:07
I'd Do Anything winner Jodie Prenger says she owes victory to UK
Jodie Prenger, the winner of I'd Do Anything, says she owes her victory to the whole country.
The Blackpool girl, 28, won the chance to play Nancy in Sir Cameron Mackintosh's upcoming revival of Oliver! after a public vote, despite fears over her weight and said: "The only thing I really want to buy is a massive, massive thank you card for the whole of the UK."
After her renditions of Son of a Preacher Man, As Long As He Needs Me and I Have Nothing on Saturday night's live final helped her secure victory over Irish rival Jessie Buckley, Prenger has vowed to prove to Sir Cameron she is the ideal fit for Nancy.
It had emerged last week that Sir Cameron thought Prenger was "too big" for the role and when he and Sir Andrew both said they believed 18-year-old Buckley was the right choice, Prenger's fate had seemed uncertain.
But the size-14 singer - who won Living TV's Biggest Loser by losing eight-and-a-half stone in six months - said the West End impresario's comments had inspired her.
"It gave me more fire in my belly," she told the Mirror newspaper. "I'll fight to prove to Cameron that I can be his Nancy and that I will give him the best Nancy he has ever seen."
In response to Sir Cameron's alleged worries about her size, Prenger replied: "I'm a size 14, an average woman. Nowt special. Whatever size you are, it doesn't matter as long as you're healthy and happy.
"But I've been through it - I've been size 26 and have gone through turmoil. But I don't want to make a huge issue out of it. That's what upsets women."
She added: "Ok, I'm never going to be a size zero - the closest I'll get to that is my shoe size. But before I came into this I was jogging five miles every other day. I can do it, don't worry."