I've had so many highs, so many lows, so many "almosts"

Former X Factor finalist Diana Vickers on her surprise new role as Gwyneth Paltrow, the pressures of finding fame as a teenager, and what drives her to succeed in her career

- SHELLEY SPADONI

Diana Vickers couldn't be happier when we catch up with her for an exclusive chat. The 33-year-old Blackburn actress, famed back in the day for her stint on Simon Cowell's X Factor in 2008, is now a well-respected West End force, exuding positivity and fun as she tells us about her new stage role.

Diana has taken on a variety of big parts since her acting debut in The Rise And Fall Of Little Voice in 2009, but her latest comes as something of a surprise.

Starring as Gwyneth Paltrow in I Wish You Well: The Gwyneth Paltrow Ski-Trial Musical - a show complete with bombastic musical numbers like I'm Gwynnocent, money guns and a giant vagina candle - the fast-paced parody sounds like a riot.

The bubbly actress plays the Hollywood star in the musical adaptation of the 2023 celebrity trial, Gwyneth Paltrow vs Terry Sanderson, that resulted from a ski slope collision. The high-profile trial saw retired optometrist Sanderson sue Paltrow for $300,000 - and Gwyneth countersued for $1. The Utah court ruled in her favour and the trial wrapped with the now iconic four words from the A-lister: "I wish you well."

Diana admits, "I was initially, like, how the hell do you make a musical out of this? But as soon as I read the script, I fell in love with it, absolutely laughed my head off. I called the producer and said, 'It's a yes from me!"" It helped that Diana - who also hosts podcast Ki And Dee, where she talks dating and everything else under the sun with best friend Chiara Hunter - was already a bona fide fan of Goop founder Gwyneth. She admits she'd been glued to the TV, watching the trial.

"I was completely obsessed with it. And she's an icon.

I watch Shallow Hal at least once a year. Now she's carved this new career in wellbeing," she says.

"But I'm obsessed with celebrity trials - Wagatha Christie, Amber Heard vs Johnny Depp," she continues.