Nancy Dell'Olio is set to make her West End debut later this week. The fiery Italian lawyer will be starring in Fashion Victim: The Musical! on Friday, Saturday and Sunday night in London.
Ahead of her opening night, Nancy, whose past relationship with Sven-Göran Eriksson catapulted her into the limelight, spoke about her decision to take to the stage.
"Performing is something I find very rewarding," said Nancy. "It is an area I am very keen to explore. I am already in the public eye and am often interviewed, so this is in some ways an extension of my day-to-day life."
© Photo: Getty ImagesNancy Dell'Olio will star in Fashion Victim: The Musical! this weekend
The 53-year-old will be playing the cameo role of Lucretia – a "highly stylish high society lady" who dramatically encounters the Fashion Police. Her character enlists the help of celebrity stylists to "make the world a safer place for fashion fabulous people, and bring to justice a dastardly style criminal for crimes against fashion."
Reflecting on her own fashion credentials, Nancy said: "I take my sense of style very seriously but I am secure enough with my image to have a little fun with my public persona."
"This is not biting satire," she added. "This is a comic look at fashion, not a cruel hatchet on the fashion world. The spirit is positive and I like that."
© Photo: Getty ImagesNancy Dell'Olio will be playing the cameo role of Lucretia
Nancy will be performing alongside male protagonist Jonathan D Ellis, who has starred in Les Misérables and Phantom of the Opera in the West End, and will be working with award-winning director Robert McWhir. "This makes me feel confident they are a great team with which to make my London debut," she added.
Nancy, who has previously performed in 2011 as a celebrity contestant on Strictly Come Dancing, was in a relationship with football manager Sven for almost a decade. The couple split in August 2007.
© Photo: Getty ImagesNancy Dell'Olio and Sven-Göran Eriksson were together for nine years
After the Swedish athlete released an autobiography, in which he confessed that he fell out of love with Nancy a year into their romance, Nancy broke her silence to HELLO! magazine.
Admitting that she felt "shocked and saddened" by the revelations, she said: "Everyone is entitled to have an opinion, of course they are, but not to lie. For me it is a shame that I was with someone for nine years and yet I do not recognise this man at all. I find it shocking how he talks about using women. Does he think that is something to be proud of? No real man would talk about women like that."
"I haven't read any of the book," she added. "But I've been told. I don't know why he's saying these things and being malicious. My advice to him would be, 'Get a life and get over it.'"
To book tickets for the musical, see www.fashionvictimthemusical.com.
