I'd Do Anything / Editor / 23 April 2008 /

Francesca Jackson is not one of Bianca's horrible children on Eastenders. She's no longer a contestant on "I'd Do Anything" either. Get the latest betting here.

Says Francesca Jackson: "I'm okay. I was absolutely devastated at the time but I'm trying to find the positives in it now. It all happened for a reason."

The reason is that Francesca was the worst of the remaining wannabe Nancys. In the great scheme of things, God (Andrew Lloyd-Webber) may have other plans for Miss Jackson, such as a wheel-on part in Holby City or the role of Aladdin in Bridlington's Christmas panto.

So if it's not to be Francesca, who will win? Francesca has an idea: "I'd love to see Sarah [6.4] or Samantha [8.8] win but I think it'll be Rachel [3.15] or Jessie [4.2] that wins it." Francesca says that to win it you have to "have a raw talent, to be rough, very East End".

Not that she's bitter - it's just that Francesca's talent is polished (notably on the same West End stage as show judge Denise Van Outen trod in Rent), not all that rough and from Wales. Jessie and Rachel are Irish, Samantha is from the Isle of Man and Sarah is from Cardiff.

If it takes a Londoner to win, then the money must be on Ashley (an adopted Londoner). Only it isn't. You can get [1.95] on Ash being the next Nancy to be shown a bright and amazing opportunity on the other side of the stage door. The other Londoner is Keisha, who at [210.0] to win is worth a look, albeit a small one.

Keisha has survived two sing-offs and is good enough to reach the final four, so long as she is raw and rough. She just needs to be herself. Right, Niamh? "I think being completely yourself is what makes you stand out." She's [7.0] to be Nancy. She's also from Ireland.

Being yourself might not be all it's cracked up to be. This, after all, is musical theatre and if you sang and danced like that in real life you'd be sectioned. As such, Niamh should bone up on her rawness, roughness and East End thugishness.

Jessie is looking to learn all the time: Says she: "I've got loads of plans this week. I'm going to be working on my smile. I'm going to be working on my movement and I'm going to be working on showing a stronger acting ability and singing ability and showing that I have what it takes to be Nancy."

And Kwayedza could be Oliver! At [2.04] he's certainly worth a look, but picking the Oliver is so tricky that until the gang has been whittled down, you'd be best to look to the Nancys. And not to look too far from Jessie and Rachel...

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