''Fat Friends The Musical'' is a

stage musical Musical theatre is a form of theatre, theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, ...

Kay Mellor Kay Mellor (née Daniel; 11 May 1951 – 15 May 2022) was an English actress, scriptwriter, producer and director. She was known for creating television series such as '' Band of Gold'' (ITV, 1995–97), '' Fat Friends'' (ITV, 2000–05), and ...

with music by Nick Lloyd Webber, based on Mellor's ITV series ''

Fat Friends ''Fat Friends'' is a British drama that aired on ITV from 12 October 2000 to 24 March 2005, consisting of 25 episodes over four series. Set in Leeds, the series explores the lives of several slimming club members, with a focus on the various ...

''.

Production history

Original Leeds and UK tour (2017–18)

The musical made its world premiere at the

Grand Theatre, Leeds The Grand Theatre, also known as Leeds Grand Theatre and Leeds Grand Theatre and Opera House, is a theater (building), theatre and opera house in Briggate, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It seats approximately 1,500 people. Building It was ...

in November 2017, prior to a UK tour from January to June 2018. The tour starred

Jodie Prenger Jodie Christine Prenger (born 12 June 1979) is an English actress and singer, best known for winning the second series of ''The Biggest Loser'' in 2006 and the BBC talent show '' I'd Do Anything'' in 2008, the latter of which subsequently laun ...

as Kelly, Andrew "Freddie" Flintoff in his musical theatre debut as Kevin (alternating with Joel Montague in certain venues),

Sam Bailey Samantha Florence Bailey (born 29 June 1977) is an English Pop music, pop singer who won the The X Factor (British series 10), tenth series of ''The X Factor (British TV series), The X Factor'' in 2013. Following her win, her debut single, a c ...

as Betty ( Elaine C. Smith at certain venues), Kevin Kennedy as Fergus,

Natalie Anderson Natalie Jane Anderson (born 24 October 1981) is an English actress, singer and television presenter. She is known for her roles as Stella Davenport in the medical drama ''The Royal'' from 2005 to 2008 and Alicia Metcalfe in the ITV soap oper ...

as Lauren, Natasha Hamilton as Julia Fleshman and Rachael Wooding as Joanne. In June 2021, it was announced the show would embark on a second UK tour opening at the Orchard Theatre, Dartford from January 2022 before touring across the UK until July 2022 starring

Jessica Ellis Jessica Ellis (born 22 March 1987) is a British actress and presenter. Ellis is from Liverpool but also lived in London. After first appearing in a television film as a baby, Ellis went to theatre school and in 2011 she had guest roles in the BBC ...

as Kelly, Lee Mead as Kevin,

Les Dennis Leslie Dennis Heseltine (born 12 October 1953) is an English television presenter, actor and comedian. He presented '' Family Fortunes'' from 1987 to 2002. Early life Dennis was born as Leslie Dennis Heseltine on 12 October 1953 in the Liv ...

as Fergus and

Sherrie Hewson Sherrie Lynn Hutchinson (born 17 September 1950), known professionally as Sherrie Hewson, is an English actress, television personality and novelist. She is known for her roles as Maureen Holdsworth in ''Coronation Street'' (1993–1997, 2006 ...

as Julia Fleshman. However the tour was postponed due to the impact of

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

Musical numbers

; Act I * "Move It" - Lauren and Ensemble * "Be My Man" - Kelly * "Big And Battered" - Fergus and Alan * "Corset Song" - Kelly, Joanne, Betty and Lauren * "What Happened" - Kelly, Joanne, Betty and Lauren * "Stuck On You" - Kelly and Kevin * "Mr. Someone" - Lauren and Paul * "Step Up" - Lauren, Alan and Ensemble * "Diets Are Crap" - Kelly * "Going Global" - Joanne, Alan, Betty and Ensemble * "Stinking Rich" - Julia and Ensemble * "Beautiful" - Kelly ; Act II * "The Slimmer's Club" - Ensemble * "Chocolate" - Val, Kelly, Betty and Ensemble * "Fun Boy" - Kelly and Female Ensemble * "The Only Fool Is Me" - Kevin * "If You Don't Want To Marry Him" - Betty, Fergus and Kelly * "Love Who You Are" - Ensemble

Cast and characters

References

* {{Kay Mellor 2017 musicals British musicals Musicals based on television series