Rita Sue & Bob Too! Embarks On 2025 UK Tour Starring Jake Quickenden

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The smash hit stage version of cult classic comedy Rita Sue & Bob Too! is set to embark on a new 10-week nationwide tour next spring.

TV favourite Jake Quickenden heads the stellar cast as Bob in the Regal Entertainments Ltd production which will visit 10 venues across the UKbetween Tuesday 4 February and Saturday 12 April 2025.

The tour opens at St Helens Theatre Royal on Tuesday 4 February and then travels to Hunstanton, Stockport, New Brighton, Birmingham, Southport, Billingham, Rhyl and Barnstaple before ending at the Liverpool Olympia from 9-12 April.

Tickets for all venues are now on sale.

Andrea Dunbar’s hilarious and gritty tale of love, lust and tested friendships is based on the 1987 British film and features a brilliantly funny script along with all the best 80s music, taking audiences on a riotous trip down memory lane through this cult classic.

Rita and Sue are two working class girls from a run-down council estate who are about to finish their final year at school. In their spare time, they earn money babysitting for married couple Bob and Michelle.

Behind Michelle’s back, Bob embarks on an affair with both Rita and Sue, who take it in turns with him in his car in the countryside. Michelle eventually finds out and leaves lothario Bob. When Bob later develops a preference for Rita, the two girls fall out but when Sue ends up in an abusive relationship, the trio are reunited.

Singer, actor and TV personality Jake Quickenden rose to prominence as a contestant on ITV’s The X Factor. Following his departure from the show in 2014 he was immediately signed up to appear on I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here where he finishes as runner-up. His numerous other TV appearances include: The Chart Show, Lorraine, The Real Full Monty: On Ice, Celebrity Bumps, Celebrity SAS ‘Who Dares Wins’, and Dancing on Ice which he won in 2018 with his professional skating partner Vanessa Bauer.

His stage credits include the National Tours of The Full Monty, Hair, Footloose and Friendsical.

In 2019 he joined the cast of Hollyoaks as Woody.

Jake Quickenden said today: “I’m delighted to be joining the brilliant cast of Rita, Sue and Bob Too! Regal Entertainments have a fantastic reputation for producing exciting entertainment in Merseyside and I can’t wait to take the show all over the UK.

“Andrea Dunbar’s play is a classic and I can’t wait to play Bob.”

Jake will be joined by Hollyoaks’ Jessica Ellis as Michelle, Shameless and Coronation Street’s Warren Donnelly as Dad, Britain’s Got Talent’s Siobhan Phillips as Mum, Kay Nicholson as Rita and Jenna Sian O’Hara as Sue.

Jessica Ellis – Jessica is a Liverpool actress who was first cast in episodes of EastEnders and Doctors before joining the cast of the popular soap Hollyoaks in 2013, playing the role of Tegan Lomax for five years.

After leaving Hollyoaks in 2018 she appeared in ITV crime drama The Bay. She previously appeared as Michelle in Rita, Sue and Bob Too! at St Helens Theatre Royal in 2022, while her other stage credits include Bedroom Farce at Theatre by the Lake, Fat Friends the Musical on tour, and The Book of Will at Shakespeare North Playhouse.