Jason Donovan and Dawn French will judge Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber's reality show Superstar, it has been confirmed.
The pair will sit alongside Lord Lloyd Webber on the panel for the ITV1 programme, which aims to find a star to play Jesus in a brand new arena tour of Jesus Christ Superstar. A guest judge will also join the trio for each live broadcast.
"I'm gagging to find Jesus with the help of the Good Lord," said French in a statement. "I have actually been searching for him my whole life, and I can't believe that inside a few weeks we are going to find him. The fact that he is going to be a rock god is a massive bonus."
Donovan - who assisted at callbacks for the show in March - said: "We have unearthed some cracking talent so far and I'm really pleased I've had time to get to know the finalists as we've moved through the competition stages.
"It's an honour to sit by Andrew on the judging panel and I can't wait for the live shows to start."
Britain's Got Talent judge Amanda Holden, who will host the live stages of the show, added: "It's an absolute honour to be working with Andrew on Superstar.
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"We've discovered some wonderful talent for the viewers, I already feel very protective of them, I'm like Mother Hen with all my boys."
The winner of Superstar will go on to star alongside comedian and musician Tim Minchin, former Spice Girls singer Melanie C and BBC Radio 1 breakfast show host Chris Moyles in an arena tour which begins on September 21.
Superstar will launch this summer on ITV1.
Kate (they/she) is a freelance writer, editor, digital editorial trainer and data technician who first joined Digital Spy as an overnight freelance sub-editor in January 2011, after studying a postgraduate diploma in journalism at Salford University while working part-time as a social researcher.
In July 2013, Kate joined the DS staff team as chief sub-editor and following six years as the site's managing editor, their role expanded to incorporate Hearst UK's entertainment portfolio (including Digital Spy and its sibling titles Best and Inside Soap) between late 2024 and early 2026.
Kate has worked as a writer and editor since 2006, with bylines syndicated across the Hearst network and at organisations including Metro. They started their career as a TV production runner for the BBC and contributed to various music websites, blogs and zines while based in Manchester.
During her time at DS, Kate has previously been a freelance sub-editor and chief sub-editor.
Kate's team at Digital Spy were proudly nominated in the Best Subbing/Production Team category at the BSME Talent Awards 2022. Over the years, she has contributed to coverage of many, many Prime Days and Black Friday/Cyber Monday, and was part of the team that launched the DS weekly TV newsletter in November 2019 – followed by the Top of the Shops e-commerce newsletter in May 2024.
Kate's screen passions include Taskmaster (their biggest career regret remains turning down the opportunity to visit the house), nature documentaries, and live sport (up there with the greatest of all soap operas although if asked to choose, it's Corrie… every time).
Her highlights while working at DS have included interviewing Stevie Nicks on the red carpet for her documentary In Your Dreams, sitting at a press roundtable with Formula 1 commentary icon Murray Walker, watching a life-sized LEGO car being driven around Silverstone, writing an album-by-album retrospective of Lady Gaga's genre-defying career for Living Legends, and raising awareness of receiving and understanding a late-in-life ADHD diagnosis through the lens of Bianca and Freddie's EastEnders storyline.
Upon remembering to log off the internet, Kate enjoys live theatre, dance and comedy, appreciating nature, baking (badly), tending a recently-rented allotment (equally badly) and pampering one very spoiled rescue cat named Jolene.
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