Loose Women star Brenda Edwards has been announced as the replacement for Gemma Collins who was left in “floods of tears” after being forced to pull out of her Chicago role as Mama Morton.
The mother of late music entrepreneur Jamal Edwards, 53, will now reprise the role in which she made her 2007 West End debut as the fearsome matron of the jail.
The former X-Factor star, who has also appeared in Hairspray, Carousel and We Will Rock You, will now take her place, starting on June 2.
In a tweet she confirmed the news, writing: “Mama’s back”.
It came after Collins - who refers to herself as “The GC” - pulled out of the UK tour of musical Chicago due to a pre-existing knee injury.
Collins – who refers to herself as “The GC” – had been due to star as Mama Morton in the UK and Ireland tour of the production, taking over the role from singer Sheila Ferguson.
Disaster struck however when a nasty knee injury from her appearance during 2019’s Dancing On Ice recently flared up and forced her to quit the show.
The Sun reported that the 41-year-old was “inconsolable” at having to leave and has been in “floods of tears”.
On Tuesday, the Essex native shared clips on Instagram Stories of herself receiving treatment for the swelling.
“Early morning session for my knee,” she wrote as she captured a Cryostimulation device working on her leg. “I can’t describe the pain you guys.”
In further clips, she called the swelling “next level’ and revealed her “leg has ballooned with my knee”.
Collins’ casting was announced in March to much fan-fare with black and white promo images showing two men behind her holding up newspapers with the headlines “Gemma Rocks Chicago” and “The Only Way Is Chicago,” in a nod to her reality TV star beginnings.
