Meet 'Mamma Mia!' competition winners Stevie Doc and Tobias Turley

The winners of the ITV talent show begin performances for Mamma Mia! on 29 January. London Theatre spoke to them about how it feels to join this much-loved show.

In October 2023, ITV launched talent competition Mamma Mia! I Have a Dream, to find the new lead roles for creator Judy Craymer’s much-loved musical Mamma Mia! in the West End. Thousands of hopeful performers applied to become the next Sophie and Sky, the young lovers of this jukebox musical featuring the songs of ABBA.

The performers were whittled down a final 14: seven men and seven women selected for the TV show filmed on the Greek island of Corfu. In December, Tobias Turley and Stevie Doc became the lucky winners.

The two recent musical theatre graduates are hungry for the opportunity of a lifetime. After rehearsals for Mamma Mia! throughout the month, they are set to take to the Novello Theatre stage on 29 January. London Theatre spoke to the winners ahead of their first performance.

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Stevie Doc as Sophie

Doc will be making her West End debut in Mamma Mia!, having graduated from London’s ArtsEd only last year. She beat Esme Bowdler, a barista from Chester, to the role of Sophie and is ecstatic to be making her debut. “It’s absolutely mind-blowing," said Doc following rehearsals at the Novello Theatre. "It’s nerve-wracking, it’s a bit scary, but I’m so excited. It’s exactly what I trained to do and the whole reason I moved to London in the first place was to hopefully get to this point. Getting to this point so quickly has been a bit of a whirlwind, but I’m excited.”

The 22-year-old from Glasgow says she always loved singing and dancing around the house with her family when she was younger, but didn’t know quite how much she wanted to be a performer until, ironically, a rejection.

“I didn’t realise I wanted to do musicals until I had actually tried to audition to get into a school," Doc said. "I didn’t think I really cared about it that much. But when they said no, I said, 'I’m getting in!' And I did. I went there the next year and I moved to London.”

Doc credits her mum, who passed away when she was 13, for supporting musical theatre in her household. “I used to sing and dance all the time when I was younger in the house," said Doc. "We would sing karaoke all the time in the house with my mum. My mum was very much a karaoke queen and she would sing everywhere. I think that early age was when I started performing.”

Tobias Turley as Sky

Mamma Mia! is not Turley’s first time on a London stage. The 23-year-old from Somerset, who graduated from Guildford School of Acting in 2021 with a B.A. in musical theatre, previously starred as Kurt in Heathers the Musical at The Other Palace. He was also lead male vocalist for Strictly Come Dancing professional Giovanni Pernice’s show This is Me and appeared in Birmingham Royal Ballet’s The Nutcracker.

He is thrilled to be taking on the role of Sophie’s fiancé, Sky, narrowly beating Belfast’s Owen Johnston to the part. “This show is so well-known by so many people,” he said. “It is an iconic cornerstone of the West End.”

Book Mamma Mia! tickets on London Theatre.

Photo credit: Stevie Doc and Tobias Turley. (Photos courtesy of production)