Shania Twain’s Starstruck co-stars say she’ll be brilliant at judging the show’s celebrity imitators – because she has met just about every famous face there is.
The queen of country, 57, will join Beverley Knight, 49, Adam Lambert, 41, Jason Manford, 41, and host Olly Murs, 38, for the second series of the ITV singing show that kicks off on Saturday. And she couldn’t help sharing some of her A-list encounters.
Comic Jason revealed: “Shania seems to know everybody, so it’s, ‘Yes, I’ve had tea with Tom Jones’ or ‘I ate cheese with Taylor Swift ’. But it’s brilliant because it’s all genuine… it’s not crowbarring in a name-drop. It’s just her world.”
He added: “She’s such a laugh. She’s just so generous and fun. We’ve got on really well. It feels like a real privilege to get behind this incredible woman and get to know her.”
Shania is just as delighted to be joining the team.
And despite selling more than 100 million albums worldwide and having hits such as Man! I Feel Like A Woman, the Grammy award-winner reckons the show delivered one of the best moments of her career.
Shania told how she was blown away by three women who imitated her on the programme.
She said: “I was really flattered. It was like a career highlight. They put their heart and soul into doing the best Shania they could. It was entirely flattering. I was really touched.”
The Canadian loves being in the UK, but has had to tone down her vocabulary.
She said: “We swear more in Canada so I curb that a little bit when I’m over here. But it’s very much a sister culture for me.
“It doesn’t feel foreign in many ways – I’d drink tea in Canada. And there’s a more relaxed sense of humour. I always feel very at home.”
Jason also feels very at home on the show. He said: “There’s times when I’m on the panel and thinking, ‘People are sitting at home going, ‘What’s he doing judging a singing show?’”
But he has been busy brushing up on his musical know-how.
He said: “In between filming, I’ve had meetings to do a new musical. I’ve sung at the Royal Albert Hall recently with a 50-piece orchestra and I was the Hedgehog on The Masked Singer, so I’ve actually been on a singing show. I’ve started to feel worthy of my seat.”
Starstruck starts on Saturday on ITV1 at 8.30pm
