Hell's Belle! Jen's in Chicago

She was just another former Brookside actress hungry for more widespread fame - but starved of exposure. Then Scouse starlet Jennifer Ellison survived repeated grillings from celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay with such aplomb that she won ITV's Hell's Kitchen in front of 8.3 million viewers.

It was a perfect recipe for an instant public profile - and now Ellison has landed three major roles.

Today, it was revealed she will make her West End debut as Roxie Hart in Chicago at the Adelphi Theatre next month. She also makes her feature film debut later this year, alongside Minnie Driver in the big-screen version of The Phantom Of The Opera.

Next year, she will star in a remake of classic 1972 disaster movie The Poseidon Adventure for a reported £250,000.

Although shooting has finished on The Phantom Of The Opera, it will not be released until after the 21-year-old joins Chicago, which has been running at the Adelphi in the Strand for seven years.

As ever, the show's producers have wasted no time in persuading their star to don fishnet tights and pose for publicity pictures.

Ellison, who is shooting a holiday programme in Thailand, said of her West End debut: "I was absolutely ecstatic to get the part in Chicago; a bit nervous but more excited than anything.

"It has been an amazing year for me so far and to get this is fantastic because I just love performing."

Sadly, she will not co-star with David Hasselhoff - formerly of TV's Baywatch and Knight Rider - who is doing storming business as the show's male lead. Since his arrival as Billy Flynn, audience numbers at the Adelphi have rocketed in what one production insider reverently terms "the Hasselhoff effect".

He has agreed to a two-week extension to his run but will take his last Chicago bow on 18 September, two days before Ellison's debut.