Sun is always out for smiley Jodie: Star talks Annie role at Birmingham Hippodrome

Warm and radiant, dazzling and brilliant, she is a larger-than-life character who lights up a room and shines like a star. As funny as a comedian and sharp as a tack, Prenger is more than the sum of her parts. Though she became a household name when she won the BBC TV series I’d Do Anything, in 2008, she’s reached the top of her profession through by combining considerable talent with hard work.

Educated at Elmslie Girls’ School in Blackpool and Blackpool and the Fylde College, her love of entertaining was evident from the off. She performed extensively on the cabaret circuit in northern England and particularly her hometown of Blackpool and Fylde coast before beginning her ascent.

Unafraid of old-fashioned graft, by June 1998 she was appearing in two different shows each night in two Blackpool theatres. First she had a solo spot in the Tiptoes Summer Spectacular at the resort’s Opera House theatre before appearing 20 minutes later in one of the main roles in a Blackpool and the Fylde College production of the musical comedy Hot Mikado at the Grand Theatre.

TV came acalling a year later and she appeared on A Taste for Travel on Granada Television with her mother. In 2000 she took part in the Dale Winton show The Other Half on BBC One in which she had to pretend to be the wife of boxer Chris Eubank. Her comedic talents were to the fore. Later that year, she played the role of the good witch Hurricane in a non-skating role in Halloween Spectacular On Ice at Alton Towers in Staffordshire. In 2001, she spent eight months as one of four main entertainers in a team of 19 aboard the cruise ship Disney Wonder. Such roles were acclimatising Prenger to the rarefied atmosphere of life as a professional entertainer. Casting directors and producers were consistently dazzled. One gig led to another.

She was asked to appear on another TV show in 2006 – the premis for which was frankly absurd. Prenger won the second series of The Biggest Loser in 2006, making her the first female in the world to win the show. The aim was to lose weight for the cameras. Starting the show a size 22 and weighing 115 kilograms (18.1 st), she lost over 51 kilograms (8.0 st) and slimmed down to a size 10, winning £25,000 and then being asked to feature on Charlotte Coyle’s Fat Beauty Contest on Channel 4, where Coyle searched for plus-sized models for a beauty pageant.

And then came the show that changed her life. In May 2008, Prenger was named the winner of I’d Do Anything, securing the opportunity to play Nancy in a West End revival of Oliver! at the Theatre Royal, in Drury Lane. Judges Denise Van Outen and John Barrowmen were among her fans, while Barry Humphries and head judge Andrew Lloyd Webber were similarly dazzled. Webber considered she had both the vocal talent and personality for the role – and, crucially, those years knocking around Blackpool and Staffordshire, losing weight for bizarre Sky TV shows had given her experience. She was a tough cookie, combining talent with a ferocious work ethic.

Lloyd Webber et al had made a remarkably smart judgement and Prenger aced the role of Nancy, appearing in six of the eight weekly shows. She had visited London’s West End before, of course, featuring in the ensemble in Les Misérables at the Queen’s Theatre, in order to gain more experience. Her reviews for Nancy were breathless. A star was born and the awards soon followed as Prenger remained in the role until spring 2010.

Since then, the world has been her onion. Prenger has been a regular on TV; featuring as a guest panellist on ITV’s Loose Women, presented the National Lottery Draw and securing roles in Waterloo Road and more. She’s become a regular fixture on the airwaves, from BBC Radio 2, where she’s stood in for Paul O’Grady and Elaine Paige, to the brilliant Mishaps Podcast, with Emmerdale’s Natalie Anderson and Neil Hurst.

There have been guest appearances almost too numerous to mention: from The Michael Ball Show and Pointless Celebrities to Sport’s Relief and All Star Family Fortunes. But her first love remains theatre, and Prenger has enjoyed a string of critically-acclaimed performances, not least in a brilliant 2015 production of Annie, where she featured as Miss Hannigan in a major UK tour.

So when the producers of a new incarnation came knocking to solicit her services for a new run, she didn’t have to think twice. On Wednesday, Prenger opened a three-week run at Birmingham’s Hippodrome, gracing the Midlands with her darkly comedic presence in the summer’s smash hit show.

When I ask her if she’s glad to be back, she laughs. She’s heard that question a thousand times and knows how she’s expected to answer. “That’s funny,” she says. “That’s the question that’s asked all the time: ‘Are you looking forward to it’?

“Honestly, Annie is one of those musicals that everybody loves – including me. I play the wicked character, Miss Hannigan, which is great. The show has an amazing cast and there’s great music and a brilliant story. Audiences love it.

“It’s one of those shows that everybody knows and where people get involved. So the little kids dress up as Annie and sit in the audience imagining they’re her. It’s heart-warming. You don’t have to think about it. It’s just such a wonderful show.”

Annie has arrived in Birmingham direct from London’s West End, where The Times described it as being a ‘glorious revival’.

Set in 1930s New York during The Great Depression, brave young Annie is forced to live a life of misery at Miss Hannigan’s orphanage. Her luck soon changes when she’s chosen to spend a fairytale Christmas with famous billionaire, Oliver Warbucks. Meanwhile, spiteful Miss Hannigan has other ideas and hatches a plan to spoil Annie’s search for her true family. With its Tony® award-winning book and score, including the unforgettable songs It’s The Hard-Knock Life, Easy Street, I Don’t Need Anything But You and Tomorrow, audiences can bet their bottom dollar that they’ll love it.

Prenger does too. She agreed to feature in just two UK cities: Birmingham and Dublin.

“I’m glad to be back in Birmingham. I’m like a fungus, you can’t keep me away from that city. I’ve done the Hippodrome many a time and I’ve done the Alex many a time too. I only agreed to Dublin and Birmingham. Let me tell you something; you breathe a sigh of relief when you see certain cities on your tour list and Birmingham is one of those cities. I’ve been coming to Birmingham for the past 10 years; it’s just a place that I really like.”

Prenger doesn’t tire of the theatre. For her, every day’s a holiday. She retains the youthful enthusiasm of a performer who feels as though she’s won life’s lottery. And though she’s previously featured in Annie, she’s taking to the role as though it’s her first time.

“It’s still so much fun to perform. And that’s what theatre’s all about. I know we’ve all seen the film and that’s amazing. But when you see it live, it goes to another level. When the NYC or Tomorrow belt out, it’s hairs-on-the-back-of-your-neck time. It’s a different experience.”

Does she still get nervous, even though she’s performed the role countless times. The answer, remarkably, is yes. “I still get nervous but then I just love doing it, especially in a place like Birmingham. Honestly, the people are so warm that it puts my heart at ease. I never get bored of it, I don’t tire. Besides, I have to keep going because I’ve got so many animals to feed when I get home.”

Ah yes, animals. Prenger is a real life Doctor Dolittle who surrounds herself with a menagerie of pets.

“I was at the pet shop yesterday, I got stuff for my dog, then I got fruit for my parrot, carrots for cows and some of the expensive stuff for the chickens – they only like that. I literally spent £130 on treats in the pet shop. I laugh, but would I spend it on anything else? Probably not. If I need a good frock, I still go to Primarmni.”

Prenger’s love of animals provides rare insight into her home life. For as much as she loves to perform, she loves also the down time. She got engaged to her fella, Simon Booth, back in 2012, and she relishes the opportunity to switch off. “The minute we shut the door we shut off. Mind you, when I shut the door I’ve still got a dog barking, a cat miaowing and a parrot squawking. There’s no peace.”

Over the coming three weeks, Birmingham will provide a home-from-home. Celebrity watchers are most likely to find Prenger at the local branch of Pets At Home or the new, all-singing, all-dancing Primark.

“Oh yes, there’s always time to shop in Brum. You’ve got the big new Primark here. I like a look at Selfridges, too,” and she laughs that she’s upmarket and downmarket at the same time. “It’s the ying and the yang. I never buy myself anything in Selfridges. I go there and buy my mum a new Chanel lipstick.”

Prenger has done enough to work less. But in her case, it ain’t about the mon-ey, mon-ey, mon-ey; ain’t about the cha-ching cha-ching; ain’t about the b-bling b-bling.

“It’s one of those things. I just love what I do and I can’t believe I get to do this for a living. If I just sat back with a pina colada and sunglasses, I wouldn’t feel right. It goes back to I’d Do Anything. There were people who voted for me and even though it’s 11 years ago, I still don’t want to let those people down. I want to give things a right good crack.

“I just think there’s always been this work ethic in me. I’m always excited to do new things; whether that’s radio, writing or TV. There are loads of projects bubbling away.

“Performing doesn’t come easy. It takes hard work. But I’m not scared of that. And at the end of the night, I can look forward to a cheese board and a bottle of prosecco.” Nice. “Yeah – and the dogs eat the cheese.”

She has only happy memories of her time as the nation’s sweetheart, sweeping all before her on reality TV.

“I’d Do Anything was my Willy Wonka golden ticket. There were magical people singing amazing songs on that show. Honestly, I felt like I was out with Willy Wonka every time I did it. It still amazes me every day. But it’s the same with Annie and everything that I do. It’s not just about the people who the public see on stage, it’s also about the company and the creatives who you get to work with. They are so very, very very inspirational. That’s what keeps me going. That what keeps the love strong.”

She has plenty more irons in the fire, once Annie’s done. Her diary stretches well into the future as she juggles different creative balls.

“We’re working on a writing project and we’re filming stuff now. Then I’ll be doing Taste of Honey with the National, and that will be coming to Wolverhampton. This profession’s just great. Whether it’s stage or TV, I’m happy in either. TV is so different. It’s very creative but the pace couldn’t be more different to theatre. The way you go about creating things is very different too. They are two very different art forms.

“But both still excite me. Everything does. I still cry at the end of the phone when the agent calls and tells me I’ve got a part. I get the same excitement that I’ve always got. I think ‘I’ve done it again’.”

Annie plays Birmingham Hippodrome until August 11 and tickets are still available, priced £24. Whoops she’s done it again.