Grease delight as Susan is the one that they want

BEFORE the weekend, she was the sister with the famous brother — but now Susan McFadden is a star in her on right.

Susan and Danny Bayne were yesterday celebrating the “dream come true” of winning ITV reality show Grease Is The Word.

They are now looking forward to starting rehearsals for their West End debuts after winning the contest to play Sandy and Danny in the stage version of the musical favourite.

Susan, 24, from Dublin, whose brother is pop star Brian McFadden, looked stunned after her victory and told host Zoe Ball: “The first thing I’m going to do is drink a big bottle of champagne. I have worked so hard to get here.”

And she was true to her word. “We did have some champagne. All the contestants had a lovely celebration, with our families,” she said.

After the decision was announced, beaten finalist Michelle Antrobus hugged Susan and said: “She is amazing, she is going to be amazing.”

The pair now have six weeks of rehearsals before the show begins previews at the Piccadilly Theatre on July 25.

They will not face critics until the formal opening night on August 8.

A total of £6 million (€8.8 million) worth of tickets has already been sold for the show since the box office opened at the end of March and bookings are currently being taken until February 2008.

Producer David Ian, who led the judging panel alongside choreographer Brian Friedman, 1980s pop singer Sinitta and I’m a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! star David Gest, said: “I’m very pleased, I think the right two won last night. I got home late last night and watched the programme back, and I’m happy.

“I wasn’t surprised by the Susan result, I think most of the country would have felt she was the favourite.

“For me it was really 50/50 the way the other would go, but I think Danny had the better night.”