TV's Lee Mead and Connie Fisher are the people's choice

16 October 2007 - Two stars who got their break on popular BBC talent shows have won top theatre awards voted by the public.

Lee Mead and Connie Fisher - who won Any Dream Will Do and How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria? respectively - were named favourite actor and actress in this year's People's Choice Theatre Awards, which were hosted by lastminute.com.

Upon accepting his award, Lee said: "It's really nice to be appreciated for what you're doing. Thank you all who voted - it's cool. My mum started crying when I told her. She was really happy for me."

Meanwhile, Connie said that she "jumped up and down" when she heard that she had won and was very surprised to hear that she was so popular.

Mark Bower, head of theatre at lastminute.com, said: "You could say these reality TV winners have helped bring theatre back to the people, making it accessible, cool and more talked about than ever."

Daniel Radcliffe also won an award, as the actor most people would like to see return to the stage.

Last month, Lee was honoured with an entirely different award, winning Rear of the Year by the charity Beating Bowel Cancer.

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