John Whaite has been left devastated after his West End debut was axed on Sunday.
The former Strictly Come Dancing star was expected to take up the role of Prince Charming in Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical Cinderella, but he released a statement to his Instagram explaining that will no longer be the case.
John's note was responded to the earlier news of the closure announcement and he penned on his Instagram Stories: "This is heartbreaking news for me because I was due to take the role of Prince Charming in July, but more so for the current cast, band and production who have battled through Covid to bring a brilliant new show to the stage.
"My heart goes out to each and every one of them.
"I was lucky enough to watch Cinderella in December 2021 and it was one of the most wonderful musicals I’ve seen in a long time."
He concluded his post, which included a headline of the closure announcement: "I was so excited to join the cast, and it was a lifelong dream come true, but sadly it isn’t to be right now.
"Who knows what the future will hold – I won’t lose hope."
Carrie Hope, who was starring as Cinderella in the production also took to social media to express her disappointment.
She wrote: "I don't think I have the words.
"And if I did I would probably be advised not to say them. Sending love to all impacted by todays news and by how that news was delivered."
The news broke on Sunday that the show at the Gillian Lynne Theatre in Covent Garden in London was to cease production.
Fans of the production were less than impressed with the announcement and also took to Twitter to let their feelings be known when discovering some of the cast only found out the news via social media.
One user commented: "Nah. Not on. Atrocious that a future cast and some present found out on TWITTER! This industry needs to get a b**** grip with F***ery like this.
"Sending love to the current and future @ALWCinderella cast who have been let down so disgustingly."
Another, who is a talent agent, wrote: "Finding out on Twitter, yes TWITTER before I could tell my clients (one being their West End Debut) that @ALWCinderella was cancelled… was NOT how I wanted to spend my Bank Holiday Sunday, yes SUNDAY! And that’s not even all of it!
"Enough is ENOUGH!"
The show is still set to hit Broadway next year, but it's said that "every aspect of production" will be changed before making its appearance.
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