Spare a thought for Keith Jack’s straighteners.
When the former Tesco shelf stacker battled it out with Lee Mead in the BBC show search for Joseph, Any Dream Will Do, it was no good having the same dark, curly locks as his closest rival.
So show producers got him to lose the waves, and he has kept at it for six years – until now, when he is set to make his Maidstone stage debut.
County Town audiences for the Hazlitt Theatre’s pantomime Dick Whittington will be among the first to see the new-improved 25-year-old Keith, who is loving going back to his roots and abandoning those straighteners for good.
“I’ve only just changed it back. I like it and everyone seems to prefer it to my straight hair. It does also mean that me and Lee look even more similar,” he said.
“We’ve been really good friends since the programme. We go out together all the time and we look like brothers; it’s amazing.”
The Edinburgh-born Scot big break on TV was back in 2007, when he came second to Lee, in the search for a Joseph TV programme.
And ironically, even though he lost out on TV to his pal, he couldn’t shake the dream role from his system and has been touring with the show for the last two and a half years.
So, not surprisingly, his role as Dick, opposite CBeebies’ Cerrie Burnell, could be laced with some Amazing Technicolor corr Dreamcoat Joseph-related lines.
“There will be references to Joseph,” he said. “I am looking forward to it.
“Close Every Door is my favourite song. It’s the big number. I enjoy doing that one.”
The show opens on Friday and runs until Saturday, January 5 at the Hazlitt in Earl Street. For tickets call 01622 758611 or visit www.maidstonepanto.co.uk