She was the winner of the BBC talent contest Over The Rainbow and as a result played the part of Dorothy in the Andrew Lloyd Webber production of The Wizard of Oz, which began performances at the London Palladium in the West End in February 2011.
[1] Hope lived in Urmston, Greater Manchester, and attended Knutsford High School in Cheshire, concentrating in drama and dance.
She left her part-time job as a waitress to focus on her A-level studies in Drama and Dance, and a BTEC National Award Musical Theatre.
[6] While still at school, Hope was chosen from over 9,000 girls to be in the final ten and perform live, on the BBC reality TV show Over The Rainbow, for the chance to play Dorothy in the forthcoming West End musical adaptation of The Wizard of Oz.
Lloyd Webber suggested that she needed to learn how to disguise the break in her voice, and Charlotte Church agreed, saying that her top notes could get "a little bit shouty".
Sheila Hancock agreed with Church, but was still full of praise, saying that she saw a similar "star quality" to that of Catherine Zeta-Jones.
Hope went back to her old school for the first time since the filming of the live shows began; there, her classmates greeted her with a hand-made yellow brick road, along with ruby slippers, and a Toto-style cuddly dog to make her feel at home.
[9] In week seven, Hope and Lauren Samuels performed a duet of the song "Popular" from Wicked, which was described as one of the highlights of the series.
After the performance, Charlotte Church told host Graham Norton that she thought Lloyd Webber should "write a musical for just those two".
[39] It was announced in October 2019 that Hope would be returning to the West End, playing the role of Betty Haynes in a limited run of White Christmas at the Dominion Theatre.
Hope is currently starring in an off-Broadway production of Kinky Boots playing the role of Lauren, for a limited summer run.
The CD single also features "The Wizard of Oz Medley" featuring Hope and fellow finalists Lauren Samuels and Sophie Evans, including the tracks "Follow the Yellow Brick Road", "We're Off to See the Wizard", "It Really Was No Miracle", "Ding Dong the Witch Is Dead", "The Merry Old Land of Oz" and "If I Only Had a Heart".