Ex-Blue star lands West End role

Ex-Blue singer Duncan James and actress Sheridan Smith will star in Legally Blonde The Musical, which opens in the West End later this year.

Smith, best known for starring in BBC comedy Two Pints of Lager and A Packet of Crisps, has landed the lead role of ditzy wannabe lawyer Elle Woods.

James will play her love interest Warner in the show, which is due to open next year at the Savoy theatre.

The musical is based on the 2001 film, which starred Reece Witherspoon.

Jerry Mitchell, who won the Tony and Drama Desk award for his work on La Cage aux Folles, will direct the production.

Tickets for the show have already gone on sale.

It is not the first West End production that James has starred in.

The singer, who had a string of hits with boyband Blue, played sleazy lawyer Billy Flynn in Chicago in 2007.

The original production of Legally Blonde opened on Broadway in 2007.

It went on to earn seven Tony nominations, 10 Drama Desk Award nominations and won an Outer Critics' Circle Award.

The show is currently touring across the US and dates for shows in Japan and Canada are expected to be announced.