As you already know, forthcoming ITV1 eight-part series Britannia High will feature music written by Take That’s Gary Barlow, and will follow a group of young performers who sing, dance and act within the walls of a fictional stage school. Lead honcho Mitch Hewer, 19, will play Danny, one of the hottest students at Britannia High, but he’s not the only male in the cast.

24-year-old Marcquelle Ward (above) will play BB, the greatest street dancer that Britannia High has ever seen. Marcquelle’s always wanted to be in entertainment and has been working as a model, a sales assistant and in a bar. He’s also a keen basketball player, has done some promos for Nike and won numerous basketball competitions. But entertaining is the only thing he’s ever wanted to do. Marcquelle has a large range of dancing experience including performances at Notting Hill Carnival and a Geri Halliwell concert at G-A-Y, London’s largest gay and lesbian party. In 2007, he was crowned a winner of DanceX, a reality television show produced in the UK for BBC One.

Matthew James Thomas will play Jez, a highly intelligent, quick-witted and amazing singer-songwriter. Matthew was one of the first to be cast for the show. “I thought I’d found a god because he could do all three — sing, act and dance,” says show choreographer Arlene Phillips.

35-year-old Adam Garcia will play Stefan, the dance mentor at Britannia High. Adam has been dancing since he was seven, and he previously starred in several US movies, including Coyote Ugly in 2000, and Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen with Lindsay Lohan in 2004. When asked by the BBC about his strip-tease scene in Coyote Ugly, he goes: “I felt like a woman. I felt like one of the girls. It was kind of daunting because they got to be really dominant. I was just Mister Stripper-Boy, which takes a certain element of pride and humility away. But it was good fun — I got to rub my nipples.”

We are speechless.

britanniahigh.com