STARRING in last year's Sevenoaks pantomime was the big break showbiz hopeful Anna Broadley needed, she says.

Miss Broadley, 23, had only appeared in small internet commercials prior to being plucked from obscurity at Christmas.

She landed the lead role in Dick Whittington after beating 60 other contestants in the inaugural Panto Factor auditions, backed by the Sevenoaks Chronicle.

"It was a real big break for me, my professional debut," she said.

"If it wasn't for Panto Factor I'd never have got the jobs I've had.

"I learned a lot from the other actors like Michelle Gayle, lots of little things which can make a big difference.

"A lot can go wrong in panto, so it was a great experience."

Tonight, six months after the curtain came down on Dick Whittington at The Stag Theatre, Miss Broadley is being reunited with two of the show's cast for another six-week run of Dick Whittington – this time at sea.

Miss Broadley, from Chislehurst, said: "I'm doing a show every day on the nine-hour Brittany Ferries crossing from Portsmouth to St Malo.

"Then I'm singing live cabaret on the nightly return crossings."

Miss Broadley's live cabaret act Band Anna has this year been picking up more bookings, and winning Panto Factor also gave her the confidence to enter a national bra modelling competition, in which she came second.

Hopefuls for this year's pantomime, Jack and the Beanstalk, can now apply for Panto Factor 2010. Visit www.thisiskent.co.uk/pantofactor for details.

A video trailer of the auditions and final of the Panto Factor 2009 can be seen here.