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h my god you guys – prepare for more pink, more glitter and more fabulousness than the film when Legally Blonde heads to the Sunderland stage.

The spin-off musical from the 2001 hit film starring Reese Witherspoon will hair flick its way to Wearside in April.

Stepping into the hot pink stilettos of fashionista-cum-lawyer Elle Woods is former X Factor finalist Lucie Jones, with former EastEnders actress Rita Simons as unlucky-inlove hairdresser Paulette Bonafonte, and star of Coronation Street and Emmerdale Bill Ward as the conniving Callaghan.

Despite not being in the sorority gang, Rita displays the sisterly sass which made her become a muchloved EastEnders fixture as Roxy Mitchell in the hit soap.

Much like Roxy, she imbues Paulette with a raw vulnerability which you can’t help but warm to as the brassy hairdresser with a big heart looks for love.

But what this role really allows her to do is to show off a brilliant knack for comic timing and a powerful singing voice in numbers such as Ireland.

It’s a real show-stealer of a performance. Hard to believe then, that this is her musical comedy debut.

Speaking backstage after the show in Edinburgh, Rita says she’s loving treading the boards.

“I love the story of Legally Blonde and it’s great when you have a good audience in,” she said. “Even when they’re quieter it keeps you on the ball and the more you get from them, the more you bounce off it.

“I think in TV it’s very self-satisfying. When you nail a scene on TV you just congratulate yourself. But on the stage you have an audience to tell you if you’ve done well and give you that