A 19-year-old musical lover from Chiseldon is performing in London's West End in his first professional role.

Matt Jordan-Pidgeon sings and dances to Abba classics every day as part of the cast for Mamma Mia! at the Novello Theatre.

He got the role straight after graduating from the Wilkes Academy of Performing Arts in Swindon earlier this month.

Matt regularly performs in front of thousands of people after going through weeks of exhausting daily rehearsals and more than a dozen auditions.

He said: "I trained at the academy for three years, then in my third year my agent sent me off to audition for musicals.

"I auditioned for around 15 musicals and Mamma Mia was the lucky one for me.

"I went through four rounds of auditions for this, singing and dancing and acting again and again.

"They narrowed it down to a final few and I got a phone call three weeks later saying I got the part.

"It's a long process and it's so scary but it was worth it."

Matt remembers the moment he got that fateful call.

He added: "It was the biggest rush, it was a great feeling, I didn't think I would get it.

"My mum was the first person I rang, my family were so happy and extremely proud."

He's just finished his 51st show as one of the 2017/18 cast members for the smash-hit musical.

He'll be part of the ensemble for most of the run but will also play Pepper and Eddie for a few weeks each, so he had extra rehearsals to learn their lines and routines.

He said: "It was very demanding and challenging, you have to be on your game at all times

"It was intense but it was really fun because we have a laugh.

"When you finish a song you're really out of breath and your legs hurt, it's a workout and it definitely keeps you fit."

The cast had an open dress rehearsal which was attended by many of Matt's friends and loved ones.

He said: "Half my college came down to watch with my family, their support gave me so much energy and adrenaline, it was my favourite performance that I've done.

"The nerves kicked in after that, I definitely felt butterflies in my stomach on opening night but it was great.

"The audiences are always on their feet, they really love Abba and the atmosphere is crazy, it's such a buzz.

"I'm still not sick of the songs after hearing them every day, my favourite one is Does Your Mother Know? and I like the part in the musical where we come on in wetsuits and do a flipper dance to Lay All Your Love on Me."

Before discovering his love of musical theatre, Matt was a tap dancing pro, winning the IDO World Tap Dance Championship four times by the time he was 15.

He added: "Tap was my gateway into this industry and I'll always love it, it's how I found out about different styles of dance, which then lead to musical theatre."