The two theatres are calling it #PantoIdol and have been having lots of fun on social media
16:38, 15 Apr 2025Updated 16:38, 15 Apr 2025
A fresh-faced Young and Gates on Pop Idol in 2002
It may seem like a lifetime ago, but it seems history is repeating itself as the two finalists in the very first season of Pop Idol appear to be battling it out once more.
This time in the world of Panto.
Will Young and Gareth Gates made it to the final of the very first series of the ITV singing competition back in 2001-2, with Will being announced by Ant & Dec to be the winner, with 53.1 per cent of the public vote (which was done by phone-in back in the day).
Now, more than two decades later, the pair have been signed up to star in two very different West Country pantomimes this Christmas.
Will was announced back in March to be starring in the Bristol Hippodrome and Crossroads Pantomimes’ (the world’s biggest panto producer) 2025 production of Jack and the Beanstalk, playing at the iconic Bristol theatre from Saturday, December 6, 2025, to January 4, 2026.
Then, on Monday (April 14) The Playhouse Theatre in Weston-super-Mare shared a humorous Instagram post announcing the star of their adaptation of Cinderella (running from Saturday, December 6, to Wednesday, December 31) – the Pop Idol runner up himself, and Will Young’s ‘rival’, Gareth Gates.
The Instagram post read: “Hey Bristol, we see you, but Weston will always be Team Gareth. #PantoIdol.”
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To which Bristol Hippodrome’s official Instagram account responded: “Nah, we think you’d better leave right now because it’s Team Will all the way. #TeamWill #PantoIdol“
The back and forth between the two theatres then continued as replies in the comments, throwing in as many Will and Gareth song references as possible.
The Playhouse wrote: “Ah Bristol, that’s the Spirit In The Sky but once you come and see #TeamGareth in action it’ll feel like a Long And Winding Road home.”
The Hippodrome replied: “You know that it would be untrue, You know that I would be a liar, If I was to say to you, That #TeamWill doesn’t light our fire.”
The Playhouse then said: “You’re caught in a trap, you can’t walk out, because #TeamGareth runs this town, baby. We can’t go on together, with suspicious minds… but we can build our dreams, on rival Pantomimes.”
While the Hippodrome wrote: “And it feels like jealousy…”
Meanwhile, Gareth Gates simply said: “Can’t wait.”
Which Panto will you be heading to this Christmas?
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