Jennifer Ellison Not Legally Bound for West End???

According to today’s Daily Mail, Jennifer Ellison is in “talks and talks” to take over from Sheridan Smith as Elle Woods in the West End production of Legally Blonde, joining the cast at the Savoy Theatre in September or October. However, a show spokesperson told Whatsonstage.com that Ellison is just one of many people producers are talking to about the show’s future and, in any case, there are “no plans for anyone to leave in the autumn”.

Ellison, who found fame in TV soap Brookside, appeared in the film of The Phantom of the Opera, made her West End musical debut in Chicago in 2004 and has followed that up with plays including Boeing-Boeing and, currently on tour, Calendar Girls. If she did join Legally Blonde in the autumn, she’d have to miss the Christmas period, as she’s already signed up to appear opposite Jonathan Wilkes in Stoke-on-Trent’s pantomime Robinson Crusoe and the Caribbean Pirates from 9 December 2010 to 9 January 2011.