The thing is, she's starting out in MT, so she can't expect to be offered leading roles. She has to work her way up to that. Theatre work isn't a short cut to stardom and neither is it financially lucrative.

I remember John Barrowman questioning Lewis' motives for applying for ADWD - he actually asked him outright "Are you here for the role of Joseph or the fame?" An interesting question (for the record, Lewis replied that he was there for the role of Joseph) and one that perhaps should have been asked of some of the OTR girls.

johnhartuk interesting point about doing it for the fame, you probably weren't aiming that at Stephanie, but with regards to her I don't think she is doing Hollyoaks PURELY for fame and a good wage

I can tell you all truthfully that the major draw was that it is filmed close to her home

Maybe a stint in strictly to show off her dancing, as the token ITV drama actor or in Dancing on Ice.

are you joking?

don't people ususally do that at the end of their career when their credibility is shot anyway and they just want exposure

it is though a fair question about fame or at least exposure - there were a few girls in the top 10 (Amy, being the most obvious but argualbly there were others) who could not realistically believed they would be cast as a young teenage girl running away from home. I certainly thought from the beginning that quite a few were there to showcase (already professional) talents rather than with any real expectation of being cast as Dorothy. That said I don't blame them it is a great way to get exposure and particularly touring productions love to have cast members that have some level of audience recognition so its a win win for them, as well as bringing them to the attention of TV producers etc. I guess its the job of the judges to ensure that the first cut 10 competitors are all suitable (something I don't think they did on OTR). I mean seriously what would they have done if Amy had never been in the bottom 2 - a glamour model as Dorothy really? No disrespect to her she is talented and would be great in a girl band in my opinion but not in this role

To clarify I was joking, I do love those shows but would be slightly weird for her to go on another reality TV show. That didn't stop Chris Fountain though I think its a bad move for her but maybe it won't be a long stint. As for being young she's 17 and I'm sure she will be living away from home to film anyway. It's not like Liverpool is a long way from London it's 2 hours 30 minuets on a train.