Top model makes leap from catwalk to panto

Top model Jenny Lee Masterson will step from the catwalk on to the stage this Christmas after landing the role of Tinkerbell in panto, it emerged today.

The Assets girl hopes her acting career will take off after she transforms herself into the mischievous little fairy in Peter Pan in Dublin’s Tivoli Theatre.

'Big Brother' star Brian Dowling will also make his stage debut in the production, taking the part of a very spoilt Captain Hook in 'Never Never Land'.

The pair will perform alongside panto favourites, TV3 star Alan Hughes (Sammy Sausages) and dame Joe Conlan (Buffy).

Jenny Lee said she was thrilled to be offered offered the role.

“I really gave the audition my best shot as a feisty little Tinkerbell and later that day I got a phone call to tell me I got the part,” she said.

“I’m so excited and nervous too, but I couldn’t be happier; I mean Tinkerbell is the best fairy of them all.

“When I rang my friend, Miss Ireland 2005 Aoife Cogan, who played Queen Victoria of Beckinham in the panto two years ago, and told her the news, she was thrilled.

“She told me it would be hard work but that I will have a ball. It’s one of the best experiences ever.”

Jenny Lee said the role gives her a chance to mix her acting talent with her love of sports.

“The role of Tinkerbell will need a lot of energy with all the flying, so it may feel like a sporting event at times,” she continued.

“I know it’s going to be magical time, and more than anything I can’t wait for my niece Ella to see me up there as she’ll be blown away by the whole thing.

“Even if this is as far as I go with acting I’m so thrilled and proud to be part of something that is so special to so many.”

The Cheerios Panto Peter Pan, which was formerly staged at Liberty Hall Theatre, opens on December 11.