Actor and singer Jason Donovan has said he is “truly sorry” to the “dedicated fans” who turned up at a theatre expecting to see him star in The Rocky Horror Picture Show on a day when he was scheduled not to perform.
Theatregoers said they booked tickets thinking the ex-Neighbours star would appear in the lead role of Frank-N-Furter at Blackpool’s Winter Gardens on Saturday and were left “fuming” when they found out he would not be on stage.
Thanking fans for their “understanding and continued support” on Instagram, Donovan said he was “truly sorry” if anyone had been left disappointed.
He said he was “never scheduled” to perform on Saturday due to a “prior commitment” and that was “noted” on the show and the venue’s websites before the performance.
The star, who recorded hits such as Too Many Broken Hearts and Especially For You, added that he had seen a BBC article about the fans at Saturday’s show and while the story was “more balanced”, its headline about “my no-show” had been “misleading”.
The original headline was changed after the article was published to correctly reflect what had happened.
Lytham’s Lucie Robertson, who had expected to see Donovan on stage, said it was “a good show, and it’s no reflection on the cast we did see, but we never would have paid to go if it wasn’t for Jason”.
“He’s who we wanted to see. They got us there under false pretences,” she added.
Donovan’s representative said a number of prior commitments meant he could not perform in some nights of the show’s tour, which was made clear on both the show and the star’s websites.
An email sent to one fan by Anthony Williams, head of marketing at the council-owned venue, has been seen by the BBC.
It said the event webpage and associated ticketing site “clearly stated from the time of sale that Jason Donovan would not appear during Saturday performances”.
“This information was available to all prospective ticket buyers, and we advise all customers to review event details carefully before completing a purchase.”
