'Queen Camilla fangirled me - she went wild!'

West End superstar Marisha Wallace reveals she's got the royal seal of approval and tells us how two A-listers led to the love of her life

- SARAH MORTON

She was treading the boards years before her stint on Celebrity Big Brother 2024 and West End star Marisha Wallace, who finished eighth on the show back in March, has a number of very high-profile fans as a result.

The US-born singer, who has appeared in Dreamgirls, Guys And Dolls and Hairspray, can count the King and Queen among her admirers – and a recent meeting with the couple cemented their mutual appreciation.

Speaking to us from the car park of a Starbucks in North Carolina (yes, really), Marisha, 38, is practically giddy with excitement. She’s back in her home state because she’s just bought her beloved mum a house and she needs to close the deal, plus, she’s coming down off the high of meeting the royals at last month’s garden party at Buckingham Palace.

“Oh, my God, it was amazing,” she squeals, as she settles down for our chat. “The party was held to celebrate culture and arts, and as I’d been nominated for an Olivier Award twice, the Olivier committee invited me. It was a huge honour. I knew the King and Queen were there, but I didn’t think I was going to get to meet them.

“So we went up to Queen Camilla and Arlene [Phillips] says, ‘This is Marisha, she played Adelaide in Guys And Dolls.’ I knew Camilla had seen the show in December, but I hadn’t met her as it wasn’t an official visit. But she remembered me. She said, ‘Oh, my God, you were brilliant. I loved you!’ She went wild! I felt like I was at the stage door with my fans! She fangirled me. It was the most surreal thing. She kept saying, ‘I loved it, my grandkids loved it, everyone loved it!’