A BELTON teenager was in for a big surprise when she sat down to watch the musical Chicago in a London theatre.

Charlotte Bullen, 19, of Selwyn Drive, had hardly taken her seat in the West End when TV star John Barrowman approached her and asked her to do a duet with singer and actress Ruthie Henshall on his BBC talent show Tonight’s The Night.

The actor, who has appeared in Doctor Who and Torchwood, wanted the Norwich City College student on his show after watching DVDs her mother Jayne, 48, had sent of her singing with Potters Theatre Company at Hopton.

The budding stage star was completely unaware her mother had nominated her for the show, which airs on Saturday night and features ordinary members of the public who think they may have a hidden talent.

She appeared with Ruthie on the show last Saturday, having recorded their performance of Maybe This Time from the musical Cabaret at studios in Glasgow between the day earlier.

“I was really shocked when John turned up. It was kind of ‘oh my God, why are you here?’

“I told him jokingly ‘you shut up,’ when he asked me if I wanted to sing with Ruthie Henshall,” she said.

Now the teen is hoping her TV appearance will be a springboard to bigger things.

She added: “I was nervous, I have never done anything like that before. I am used to singing in front of 200 or 300 people, but when you are in front of the cameras it is a bit different. We had a live band with us as well.”

Charlotte, who lives with her mother, father Andy and sister Emma, 20, has been performing with Potters since she was a child, having started with Potters Theatre School and then progressed to the theatre company.