Ann Widdecombe to star in panto in Dartford

Revel Horwood will star as the Wicked Queen, and Widdecombe as a servant

Former Kent MP Ann Widdecombe has signed up to make her debut in panto.

Widdecombe achieved a lengthy run in the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing show last year.

The ex-Home Office minister will take a role in a production of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs In Dartford just months after saying she had no interest in a "showbiz career".

She will team up with Strictly judge Craig Revel Horwood at the Orchard Theatre from 9 December.

The pair have recently been on tour together as part of the line-up for the Strictly live shows, and Revel Horwood suggested she take part in the panto.

Widdecombe said: "I can hardly believe all the wonderful opportunities which have opened up through Strictly Come Dancing.

"Craig and I have had enormous fun on the tour of the show and I am sure we can make that fun infectious during the run of Snow White."

She will play the new servant to Revel Horwood's Wicked Queen, taking the role of Widdy In Waiting.

Revel Horwood said: "Ann is extremely entertaining and such a sport. We've had a great laugh together on tour, though whether or not her dancing has improved is another matter."

Ann Widdecombe was the Conservative MP for Maidstone and latterly Maidstone and the Weald between 1987 and 2010.