Celebrity Big Brother reverses decision and informs Marisha Wallace of Olivier Award nomination

Can’t say we expected this to become an ongoing saga, but despite insisting that Marisha Wallace won’t find out about her Olivier Awards nomination until she’s left the Celebrity Big Brother house, producers of the TV series have reversed the decision.

Wallace was nominated on Tuesday for Best Actress in a Musical for her performance in the WhatsOnStage Award-winning revival of Guys and Dolls at the Bridge Theatre, where she concluded her run last month.

However, she is currently inside the Celebrity Big Brother house, alongside a series of famous names. The show had, on Tuesday, stated she won’t find out about her nomination until she exited the show.

The series’ account posted later that day: “Today in things that could only happen on Celebrity Big Brother… Marisha has been nominated for an Olivier Award, but won’t even know until she leaves the House!”

However, it seems that the show has now revealed the news to the stage star in a special event to mark the series’ halfway point, reversing its previous decision.

According to eyewitnesses: “Big Brother transformed the garden into a funfair and Marisha played her hand at the wheel of fortune machine, which revealed: ‘There are exciting things ahead, on Sunday 14 April, you will be sitting at the Olivier Awards as a nominee.'”

Audiences will be able to witness the scenes this evening on ITV 1.

Wallace has lit up both Broadway and the West End stages. Her career began in New York, where she was part of the casts of acclaimed musicals like Aladdin and Something Rotten!. However, it was in London’s West End that she began to gain wider recognition.

In 2017, she landed the role of Effie White, the lead character in Dreamgirls, first as an alternate and then taking over the role entirely at the Savoy Theatre.

She has graced the stage in a variety of other productions like Waitress, originating the role of Becky in the West End, as well as Hairspray, playing the role of Motormouth Maybelle. She has even released a Christmas album.

More recent credits include the multi-award-winning revival of Oklahoma! at the Young Vic, followed by the WhatsOnStage Award-winning revival of Guys and Dolls at the Bridge Theatre, which earned her a nomination for Best Performer in a Musical at the 24th Annual WhatsOnStage Awards.