Denise is back in the West End

Denise Van Outen got a rapturous applause when she returned to the West End stage last night as Roxie.

Miss Van Outen, 27, is back for a final five-week run at the Adelphi after a sensational run on Broadway.

At the post-show party at the Rockwell bar she said: "The first thing I did when I got back was buy some fish and chips - that was one of the things I really missed when I was away."

She said there was a buzz in New York about Chicago the movie. "My friend Dierdre Goodwin who was in the show has a part in the film, and she said Renee Zellweger is unbelievably good as Roxie.

"She said Renee is going to blow people away - just shock them with how good her singing is"

Miss Van Outen, who has seen her once-faltering career rehabilitated by her brilliant performance in Chicago, has plenty of future projects to consider.

She has been offered a stage play role in the West End but said: "That might not happen now." Instead there are rumours of a part in a new musical from Lord Lloyd-Webber.

Miss Van Outen did not succeed on all counts in America. "Romantically I failed miserably in New York, I didn't meet anyone.

"I was doing the show most nights and when I did go out I was on my own because I didn't know anyone, really," she said.