So, I thought I’d throw together a super quick post about what’s going on since I’m still mostly in shock about the whole thing…

A few weeks ago, I found out that I’d been nominated for Official London Theatre’s Be Inspired Awards, part of the prestigious Olivier Awards. My best friend Izzy put me forwards for my ongoing work in accessible and inclusive theatre, and that alone was enough to completely make my year. However, I am *beyond* shocked and humbled to have been chosen as one of the four Be Inspired winners for 2018. My goodness, even whilst typing it now it still feels utterly incomprehensible.

You can watch my segment of the winners’ announcement, filmed at Sheffield Theatres with the help of my fab pal and Media Officer Ellie, below…

I’ve been sitting on this news for a while and knew that the winners were going to be announced on Friday 2nd March. However, what it didn’t know for sure was that it was going to be announced on This Morning. So, whilst I was obliviously waiting for the announcement from the organisers to go live on social media and working on some freelance stuff in the meantime, it was something of a surprise when my phone and notifications suddenly went wild with people telling me that Catherine Tate was talking about my blog on the telly. I mean, I thought I knew what shock felt like but it was nothing compared to how I felt at that moment.

After catching up on plus one, I can confirm that Queen Catherine, the confirmed host of this year’s Oliviers, is now officially one of my favourite human beings on the planet, and honestly cannot thank her enough for her kind words about my blog and accessible theatre shenanigans (it’s about 3 minutes into the clip below). One of my all-time comedy heroes said my name on a daytime TV show that I watch way more than is socially acceptable and let me tell you, it doesn’t feel real.

To find out more about the awards and how this came about head over to Official London Theatre’s news page, but the bottom line is this: I’m going to the Olivier Awards. I’M GOING TO THE OLIVIER AWARDS. Izzy and I have won tickets to the ceremony, including the red carpet experience where I’ll be presented with my award, and also the FREAKING AFTER PARTY where we’ll most likely try and fail to conceal many levels of ultimate stagey fangirling. They’ve even thrown in a stay in a five star hotel, something that will no doubt be a once in a lifetime experience for me- I’m very much a Premier Inn kind of gal so the idea that we’re going to be treated like princesses for a day leaves me *almost* speechless.

But seriously, this is one of the most special things that could ever happen to me. I follow the Oliviers every single year and the fact I’m going to be there in person this year is something that I’m yet to wrap my head around. I cannot thank you guys enough for your continued support: you’ve given me so much to be grateful for over these past few years but this… well, this is a whole other league. From the bottom of my heart, thank you. Not to be too cheesy, but I’d be lying if I said this wasn’t a dream come true.

Stay tuned, and keep an eye on my Twitter and Instagram for more! However, if you don’t hear from me, there’s a very real chance I have spontaneously combusted in a fit of stagey glee. That is all.