Monday 15th October
Talent show stars Lee Mead and Connie Fisher have each scooped top gongs in this year's People's Choice Theatre Awards, it has been confirmed.
Both Lee and Connie - who found fame through the popular BBC talent searches Any Dream With Do and How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria? respectively - were voted favourite actor and actress in the annual poll hosted by lifestyle website lastminute.com.
Lee said: "It's really nice to be appreciated for what you're doing. Thank you all who voted, it's cool. My mum started crying when I told her, she was really happy for me."
Mark Bower, head of theatre at lastminute.com, said: "The public have voted and it would seem reality stars are still the 'People's Choice'.
He added: "The success of reality theatre TV shows has helped to make theatre popular again and it's great to see more younger faces in the audience.
"You could say these reality TV winners have helped bring theatre back to the people, making it accessible, cool and more talked about than ever."
Other winners include Wicked for Best Musical and Equus for Favourite Play and Daniel Radcliffe is the actor most people would like to see make a return to the stage.
More than 16,000 people cast their votes in the fifth lastminute.com People's Choice Theatre Awards.
