A Ghost Story

Shona McGarty is a distinguished actress and singer, widely recognised for her portrayal of Whitney Dean in the iconic BBC soap opera EastEnders.  McGarty’s exceptional talents as both an actress and vocalist have earned her critical acclaim and a devoted following. Shona, has used her talents for many charitable causes, lending her skills to aid organisations such as The Great Ormond Street Hospital, Mind, Children in Need and many more.

Jay McGuiness is best known as a vocalist in the boy band The Wanted. Their debut single, “All Time Low,” hit the No. 1 spot on the U.K. singles chart and the band went on to have a further 2 No. 1 singles and 5 Top 10 singles including the global hit ‘Glad You Came’. The Wanted toured the world notching up hit after hit appearing on the biggest TV shows and winning awards aplenty. In 2021, they reformed, releasing their greatest hits album, Most Wanted, and embarked on a 12 date UK arena tour in the spring of 2022.

Jay has a song and dance background, starting with dance classes in his early teens, Jay later attended The Midlands academy of Dance and Drama in Nottingham, close to his home town of Newark. After taking a break from The Wanted in 2013, Jay was confirmed as a celebrity contestant in Strictly Come Dancing 2015 and was partnered with professional dancer Aliona Vilani. The couple stole the public’s hearts with their graceful and energetic routines, becoming the runaway series winners and gaining the coveted Glitterball trophy. Their now infamous Jive to the music from Pulp Fiction has become the show’s most watched routine ever amassing over 8 million hits on You Tube. The routine was also voted Strictly’s BEST EVER dance by BBC Strictly viewers in December 2020

In 2016, Jay starred in the musical version of the Tom Hanks movie ‘Big! in Dublin playing the lead role of Josh Baskin. Jay reprised the role in 2019 in the West End at the Dominion Theatre to rave reviews.  In 2020, Jay again took the lead role of Sam in the West End production of Sleepless, A Musical Romance at London’s Troubadour theatre based on the movie Sleepless in Seattle. Jay’s other theatre work includes starring in Rip It Up, a 60’s song and dance show at London’s Garrick Theatre and most recently taking the lead role of Bob Wallace in the touring production of Irving Berlin’s White Christmas in 2022

In May 2023, Jay announced that he was now adding yet another string to his bow as a published author. His debut fantasy novel ‘Blood Flowers’, published by Scholastic UK, is slated for release in February 2024.

Jay has also done his fair share of TV work competing in (and winning) a celebrity version of the Channel 4 show, Hunted, raising money for Stand Up To Cancer alongside one of his former band mates. Earlier this year, Jay took part in Richard Osman’s House of Games where he again won the weekly battle to take the champion’s trophy. Jay has also presented regular features for BBC’s The One Show fronting films on topics as diverse as Music education in schools and Veganism.

Colin can most recently be seen in the highly anticipated Appian Way/Nat Geo series THE RIGHT STUFF opposite Jake McDorman and Patrick J. Adams. He has just completed filming in civil war spy series THE GRAY HOUSE for Paramount that Roland Joffe has directed. In film, Colin stars in Susan Johnson’s CARRIE PILBY alongside Bel Powley, as well as the independent feature THE DUST STORM. He also starred opposite Anthony Hopkins in Mikael Hafstrom’s THE RITE for New Line, Johannes Roberts’ independent film STORAGE 24, Gary Fleder’s IDENTITY, alongside Angela Bassett and FAIRYTALE OF NEW YORK, opposite Jim Belushi and Miranda Raison. In TV, Colin can be seen in Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis’ hit ABC drama, ONCE UPON A TIME, recurred on the Irish TV series, THE CLINIC, which has won various Irish Film and Television Awards and appeared on Showtime’s THE TUDORS.

Laura Whitmore trained at the Leinster School of Music and Drama, studied Shakespeare at RADA and holds a degree in Journalism from Dublin City University.

She wrote and starred in the short film Sadhbh for which she won The Ros Hubbard award for acting in 2019. She toured in the role of Cleo in Peter James’ Not Dead enough in 2017. Her film/TV acting credits include Hulu’s Four Weddings and a Funeral, 4.3.2.1, Storage 24 and RTE’s Finding Joy. In 2024 she can be seen in Channel 4’s and Disney’s highly anticipated drama series Queenie as well as her first lead in a feature film ‘ A Mother For An Hour’ out later this year.

She is a successful radio and television broadcaster best known for hosting the Bafta winning ITV show ‘Love Island’, the ‘I’m A Celebrity’ spin off show and her BBC radio show. In 2023 her documentary series ‘Laura Whitmore Investigates’ aired, as well as ‘Laura Whitmore’s Breakfast Show’, both for ITV. This year she also embarked on Comic Relief’s ‘Snow Way Back’ Arctic Trek to raise vital funds for Red Nose Day which can be seen in a primetime BBC1 documentary.

She currently hosts BBC Podcast, Murder They Wrote alongside Iain Stirling.

She started her TV career in 2008 winning MTV’s Pick me MTV and becoming the face of MTV Europe for almost a decade. She has interviewed some of the biggest musical artists and actors in the world.

In March 2021 she released her first book, ‘No One Can Change Your Life Except For You’ which has gone on to become a Sunday Times Bestseller.

Last year she made her West End debut as Jenny in 2.22: A Ghost Story and is delighted to be returning home to play Lauren in its limited Dublin run.