ALEX Weatherill is pinching himself. For as long as he can remember, the 27-year-old actor has dreamed of landing a role in a West End production.

And this week his dreams turned into a reality.

From the end of February the former Worcester Royal Grammar School pupil will be strutting his stuff in hit musical Chicago as tabloid columnist Mary Sunshine (it's convention for the role to be played by a man) with EastEnders and Strictly Come Dancing star

Jill Halfpenny, who is also making her West End debut as Roxie Hart.

Alex, who gained valuable experience in amateur groups in Worcester and Malvern before turning professional, told the Evening News it had still not sunk in.

"I have to keep pinching myself and then I get another phone call confirming something else - it's amazing," he said.

Alex, who reached the semi-finals of TV's Musicality before landing a part in a professional production in Scarborough and having to leave, said it has been an uphill struggle to get where he is today as he has never attended drama school.

"Because I had no professional training, agents just weren't interested," he said.

"I tried for years but then when I was doing cabaret in Scarborough last year some friends who had been ex-leads in the West End gave me the names of some reputable agents and all of a sudden several were interested in me."

Alex, who has come a long way since his first part as Queen Elizabeth's page boy in Merry England when he was eight, auditioned for Chicago at the end of November - and to his amazement found out he had got the part this week.

"I will be taking over the part from a guy who has been in it for four years - so I am a bit nervous about filling his shoes," he said.

"But I can't wait.

Alex begins rehearsals on Monday, February 14 and will make his first appearance on the Adelphi Theatre stage two weeks later.