A Prestwich-born dancer and TV judge won a prestigious theatre award at the weekend - which drew a standing ovation.

Dame Arlene Phillips and James Cousins shared the award for Best Theatre Choreographer at the Olivier Awards at the Royal Albert Hall in London on Sunday for her work on musical Guys and Dolls.

The award was Dame Arlene’s first competitive Olivier Award.

The 80-year-old former Strictly Come Dancing judge thanked Cousins for helping her by “crawling around” on the floor to demonstrate the movements when she had issues with her knees.

Last year, she won a special Olivier award for choreographing some of the biggest musical shows including We Will Rock You, The Wizard Of Oz, The Sound Of Music and Flashdance.

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In the winner’s room, Dame Arlene said she “wished she could have photographed” the moment of her standing ovation before becoming emotional.

“It’s possibly one of the most exciting things to have happened in my life,” she also told the PA news agency.

“I can still think, I can still dream.”

Elsewhere at the ceremony, musical Sunset Boulevard seven wins at the Olivier Awards a nod for US actress and singer Nicole Scherzinger.

The former Pussycat Dolls singer won best actress in a musical gong at the Royal Albert Hall as the reinterpretation of the 1950 black comedy of the same name also picked up best director and best musical revival.

Accepting her award, she said that “coming from really humble beginnings I always wanted to be a singer and do musicals”.

She added that she wanted to do “so many roles” and joked that the failing Hollywood star, Norma Desmond, depicted in the original film, was not “one of them”.

The Oliver Awards took place at the Royal Albert Hall in London on Sunday, hosted by Ted Lasso star Hannah Waddingham.

Other winners included Succession actress Sarah Snook for her one woman show, The Picture of Dorian Gray and Doctor Who writer- Mark Gatiss who secured best actor in a play for The Motive And The Cue at the National Theatre.