Illness keeps McCutcheon off stage

McCutcheon on stage with co-star Jonathan Pryce

Actress Martine McCutcheon will be out of action from her starring role in West End Hit My Fair Lady for at least another week.

The ex-EastEnder and popstar - who has been suffering from a throat infection and a blood clotting problem - has been off-stage for more than a fortnight.

She earned rave reviews for her performance on the opening night at the Royal National Theatre.

McCutcheon, 24, was seen by the theatre's medical consultant on Thursday.

Her spokesman said: "She won't be back on stage until she's given the all clear. It is such a demanding show, lasting three hours, and we want her to be 100% before she returns.

McCutcheon begins the show as a flower girl

He said there had been some improvement and she was now on her feet.

"You can bet your bottom dollar that as soon as she is well, she will be back."

The actress is due for another check-up on Thursday to decide if she is able to perform the following week.

West End

McCutcheon has only appeared in the show three times since its official opening.

But she has earned rave reviews for her role as guttersnipe Eliza who is transformed into a lady by upper class dialect expert Professor Higgins.

My Fair Lady also stars respected stage and TV actor Jonathan Pryce as the brutish Professor Higgins.

Former Sweeney and Minder star Dennis Waterman plays Alfred P Doolittle - Eliza's dustman dad.

The show and its current cast is expected to transfer in July to the West End's Theatre Royal Drury Lane - where it first opened in the UK 43 years ago and continued for five and a half years.