Viewers of Mamma Mia! I Have a Dream were baffled by the choice of judges for the show as he first episode aired on Sunday.
The ITV show sees 14 hopefuls compete to be cast as Sophie and Sky in a new West End adaptation of the Mamma Mia movie.
Named after the iconic ABBA song and filmed on the Greek island of Corfu over eight weeks, the contestants live in a Greek villa as they take part in the competition.
Seven boys and seven girls will have to impress judges singer Jessie Ware, comedian Alan Carr, Frozen star Samantha Barks and Glee’s Amber Riley.
But, while people watching at home could understand why Samantha and Amber had been booked for the judging gig, they were less sure about Alan and Jessie.
The panel: Viewers of Mamma Mia! I Have a Dream were baffled by the choice of judges for the show as he first episode aired on Sunday (L-R: Samantha Barks, Alan Carr, Amber Riley and Jessie Ware)
Competition: The ITV show sees 14 hopefuls compete to impress the judges in a bid to be cast as Sophie and Sky in a new West End adaptation of the Mamma Mia movie (L-R: Amber, Samantha, Jessie and Alan)
Taking to Twitter, one person wrote: ‘As for the #MammaMia judges, I get Samantha Barks and Amber Riley, they’ve both done West End theatre, but I’ve never heard of “pop star” Jessie Ware and whilst I love Alan Carr?’
Someone else posted: ‘Ok, so I get Amber Riley – yes, Jessie Ware – yes, Samantha Barks – yes…but Alan Carr?? I don’t get it?
‘I love Alan as a comedian but he has nothing to bring to the judging panel? Very bizarre choice.’
‘Swap Alan Carr (why, seriously) for Elaine Paige, and then we have a dream! #MammaMia #IHaveADream,’ commented another viewer.
While someone else remarked: ‘Get all the judge choices bar Alan Carr.’
Another viewer posted: ‘Amber Riley & Samantha Barks… I get. Jesse Ware & Alan Carr… Not so sure.
‘But I’m living for it either way. #MammaMia.’
Someone else noted: ‘#IHaveADream talented industry judges… And Alan Carr.’
Views: While people watching at home could understand why Samantha and Amber had been booked for the judging gig, they were less sure about Alan and Jessie
Funnyman: While some viewers were unsure of Alan’s place on the judging panel, others were pleased he brought his humour
Taking a more positive view on Alan and Jessie, another viewer wrote: ‘I’m veryyy here for jessie ware and alan carr together, but that’s about it so far.’
And someone else shared: ‘The judges are so great together. Obsessed with Alan & Jessie together, too.’
The contestants were seen being put through their paces in high energy choreographed dancing and musical numbers to ABBA songs.
Opening the show, host Zoe Ball said: ‘Greece, beautiful island, sun and sea, and the home of the iconic Mamma Mia.
‘We’re here to find out who will become the next iconic Sophie and Sky in the West End.
Living the dream: Named after the iconic ABBA song and filmed on the Greek island of Corfu over eight weeks, the contestants live in a Greek villa as they take part in the competition (L-R: contestants Stephanie and Maddy pictured)
Challenged: The contestants were seen being put through their paces in high energy choreographed dancing and musical numbers to ABBA songs on Sunday (L-R: contestants Tobias, Craig and Marcellus)
Success: All the hopefuls made it through to the second episode as no one was eliminated this week (L-R: show host Zoe Ball and contestants Marcellus, Tobias, Craig, Darcy, Callum, Owen, Zachkiel, Maisie, Stevie, Desmonda, Maddy, Stephanie, Leah and Esme)
‘But who has what it takes?’
Contestants Desmonda, Esme, Leah, Maddy, Maisie, Stephanie and Stevie, and Callum, Craig, Darcy, Marcellus, Owen, Tobias and Zachkiel will all battle it out throughout the series.
All the hopefuls made it through to the second episode as no one was eliminated this week.
Mamma Mia! I Have a Dream continues on Sunday 29 October at 6.15pm on ITV1 and ITVX.
Back again: Mamma Mia! I Have a Dream continues on Sunday 29 October at 6.15pm on ITV1 and ITVX (L-R: judges Alan and Jessie, host Zoe, and judges Amber and Samantha)
MAMMA MIA! I Have A Dream: MEET THE CONTESTANTS!
THE SOPHIES
DESMONA
AGE: 27
FROM: Indonesia
WHY DO YOU WANT TO PLAY THE ROLE OF SOPHIE? ‘It’s about MAMMA MIA! itself because musical theatre is not a big thing in Indonesia. Movie musicals on the other hand, are super popular. People love MAMMA MIA!’
LEAH
AGE: 20
FROM: Redcar
WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE ABBA SONG? ‘The ABBA song that I can relate to is ‘Slipping Through My Fingers’ because growing up it was always me and my Mum. She brought me up as a single mother and we were constantly together.’
MAISIE
AGE: 22
FROM: Margate
TELL US ABOUT YOUR MUSICAL THEATRE JOURNEY UP UNTIL NOW ‘I have three sisters and when I was younger my mum put us all into musical theatre classes and I absolutely fell in love.’
STEVIE
AGE: 22
FROM: Glasgow
WHAT DOES APPEARING ON MAMMA MIA! I Have a Dream MEAN TO YOU? ‘When I told my family I was moving to London, no one was surprised. I’ve always been quite ambitious, but this is something I could never have imagined.’
THE SKYS
CALLUM
AGE: 22
FROM: Oxfordshire
TELL US ABOUT YOUR MUSICAL THEATRE JOURNEY UP TO NOW: ‘My musical theatre journey is relatively limited up until now. This feels like dipping my toes into the musical theatre world for the first time.’
DARCY
AGE: 23
FROM: Hampshire
WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE ABBA SONG? ‘My favourite Abba song is definitely ‘Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!’ – if you’re on a night out, the moment that beat hits you know it’s going to be a great night!’
OWEN
AGE: 25
FROM: Belfast
WHAT DOES APPEARING IN MAMMA MIA MEAN TO YOU? ‘The ten year old boy who was scared to tell his mates in his classroom that he’d seen MAMMA MIA! three times at the cinema would be beside himself! It means the world.’
ZACHKIEL
AGE: 21
FROM: London
WHY DO YOU WANT TO PLAY THE ROLE OF SKY? ‘I’m excited to bring a new essence, a new flair to the character. I want to respect the character – MAMMA MIA! is so famous, everyone has an idea of what Sky and Sophie are like and you can stick to what people know, that’s fine, but you’re also allowed to create and I want to add my own spin to it.’
ESME
AGE: 22
FROM: London
TELL US ABOUT YOUR MUSICAL THEATRE JOURNEY ‘I left school at 16 to go train in musical theatre in a college in Liverpool, and this is really where I found my love for the industry.’
MADDY
AGE: 20
FROM: Bolton
WHY DO YOU WANT TO PLAY THE ROLE OF SOPHIE? ‘I would love to play the role of Sophie because I admire her a lot as a character, as she’s always so bubbly and headstrong and she cares a lot about the people she loves!’
STEPHANIE
AGE: 22
FROM: St Albans
WHAT DOES APPEARING ON MAMMA MIA! I Have a Dream MEAN TO YOU? ‘To see a musical set in Greece showing Greek traditions is so nostalgic to me and to make my family proud doing what I love with my heritage would just be incredible.’
CRAIG
AGE: 26
FROM: Perthshire
WHY DO YOU WANT TO PLAY THE ROLE OF SKY? ‘It’s such an iconic role – Sky is a chilled guy and I’m excited about the energy the TV show is going to give to the stage show and want to be a part of that.’
MARCELLUS
AGE: 36
FROM: High Wycombe
TELL US ABOUT YOUR MUSICAL THEATRE EXPERIENCE UP TO NOW? ‘I made a decision in 2016-17 to never work unless it was performing. I said that if I love it that much, if I want it to work then I’m going to go in. I’ve been performing ever since, sometimes on, sometimes off, but I keep going.’
TOBIAS
AGE: 22
FROM: Somerset
WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE ABBA SONG? ‘Does Your Mother Know.’ Between jobs I work at Archer Street which is a bar in Soho where you sing on the tables and that is one of my favourite songs to perform. In terms of song that sums me up, I think ‘Take A Chance’ because it’s quite cheeky!’