Pussycat Dolls star to play ‘Dominic Cummings figure’ in stage debut

By Alex Green, PA Senior Entertainment Reporter

Pussycat Dolls star Kimberly Wyatt is to make her stage debut playing a “Dominic Cummings or even Alastair Campbell figure”.

The American singer, 39, will appear as press secretary Kate Compton in Hilary Bonner’s political thriller Dead Lies.

Wyatt was due to embark on a world comeback tour with the Pussycat Dolls this year, but the concerts were postponed due to the pandemic.

Instead, she joins a cast that includes Casualty actor Clive Mantle, Absolutely Fabulous’ Harriet Thorpe, John Lyons from A Touch Of Frost and Coronation Street’s Jacqueline Leonard.

Wyatt said of the role: “Kate is in the centre of all the drama, she’s really sassy, switched on and is hugely influential in the political arena.

“She is very much like a Dominic Cummings or even Alastair Campbell figure but thankfully she has the style of Carrie Johnson.”

Wyatt, who has appeared in CBBC series Almost Never since 2019, added: “I had been looking to do a play for some time and had read multiple scripts but couldn’t find a character that I really wanted to create.

“Then I was sent the script for Dead Lies and as soon as I started to read it, I was totally drawn into its world of lies, murder and sexual indiscretion.

“I could not put the script down and read it from start to finish in the blink of an eye, I was totally gripped.”

Directed by Joe Harmston, Dead Lies takes place during a fiercely fought election campaign and follows Peter George (Mantle), a politician who promises a new kind of politics beyond sleaze and spin, but a secret in his past threatens to derails his plans.

Wyatt’s character is described as “to Peter George what Alistair Campbell was to Tony Blair”.

Dead Lies embarks on a UK tour in autumn starting at Queen’s Theatre Barnstaple from September 14-19 2021.