Wednesday, 14 February 2007

• Prev
• Next

Connie Fisher is a missing Maria

'Lingering cold' forces Sound Of Music star to skip shows

The official line is that she has a cold.

But sources at the London Palladium say stress is the real reason why Sound Of Music lead Connie Fisher has missed a spate of performances.

The 23-year-old former telesales worker, who won the role of Maria Von Trapp on a BBC reality programme, has now been absent from 10 shows over the past six and a half weeks.

After missing last night's show, she will not perform tonight or on Saturday evening. So by the end of this week she will have been off stage for 12 out of a possible 52 shows - nearly a quarter of her scheduled appearances.

Originally the role of Maria was meant to be shared with actress Emma Williams. But she walked out in September because the spotlight was so firmly on Connie.

A box office source told the Daily Mail: 'Connie had bouts of illness with a cold at the beginning of last month. But most propably the stress of doing two performances a day has meant her immune system is down.'