Talking Shop: The Nancy finalists

Jessie Buckley, Jodie Prenger and Samantha Barks are vying to play Nancy

The three, who now face the public vote as they bid to play the feisty Nancy, talk about nerves, unusual fan mail and their ideal Bill Sikes.

How nervous are you and why should you win?

Jessie: I've actually become a professional nail-biter since the competition started and it's got worse. But it's positive nerves and I want this so much I literally would do anything to win. When something feels so right you just have to go in fighting for it.

Jodie: My nerves are the same every week. My knees knock when I get on the stage, so it is a scary thing. I've never done anything like singing on TV ever before and I really hope I do win because I've wanted it for so, so long. I'm ready to put every bit of heart and soul I can muster up into it.

Samantha: I'm really, really nervous for the final. It's exciting to think we've come this far and now it's a chance for us to say "well this is me". I think I am a raw Nancy, and I've definitely come on a massive journey throughout this competition, which is why I think I should get the part.

What will you do if you lose?

Jessie: It's not going to be the end of the world and I hope that there's more opportunities out there for me. This is a career I have a huge passion for and I want to continue what I love doing.

Jodie: I'd go away with the best experience of a lifetime because I've never been properly trained, so I take away a wealth of knowledge.

Samantha: You've just got to weigh up all the options of what life throws at you, I suppose. Hopefully, I'll do some work if I can or go and train. I don't know, I'll just have to play it by ear, I think.

What would you be doing if you hadn't entered the contest?

Jessie: I'd probably be still working as a waitress back in my home town in a small cafe. I was taking a gap year but hopefully I'd have been accepted into drama school.

Jodie: I set up a company and a group to help people motivate themselves and lose weight so that's what I'd still be doing. I'd be doing my agony aunt stuff, which I still enjoy.

Samantha: I'd still be at school. I dropped out to pursue this competition - I wasn't going to at first but, as I started getting through the weeks, I had to really.

What sort of support have you had from the public and have you had any unusual fan mail?

Jessie: The public have been fantastic. The thing people mightn't realise is that people back in Ireland can't vote - it's the British public who've kept me in this competition and they've just been absolutely amazing. I've had really, really lovely fan mail from all different ages.

Jodie: I've had the most adorable and humbling letters and, the pictures I've had from kids, I've got them all up on my wall. It's lovely. There hasn't been a single weird one at all.

Samantha: I haven't had strangely unusual fan mail. I have had some roses and some chocolates from some boys, which was sweet. I haven't had anything too weird, like a sock or some mittens, which I thought I'd get because I'm scared of them. But I haven't. So that's a relief.

What do you think of the judges and do you agree with Andrew Lloyd Webber's decisions?

Jessie: I really respect them, they're all professionals, they've been in the business for so long and they know what it takes to be a leading lady. And Andrew Lloyd Webber - I look up to him so much. Any decision that he makes, it's the right decision at the end of the day.

Jodie: I love John and Denise, they're like the perfect Mr and Mrs. And Cameron was lovely when he came on and, well Barry's Barry isn't he? And you have to agree to a certain extent with Andrew because he's got that wealth of knowledge. It might not be the person who you want to see go but you have to respect his decision.

Samantha: I respect the judges a lot. So when they give me criticism, I take that on board. Sometimes you don't agree with Andrew Lloyd Webber's decisions. I would hate to be in his position and everyone who goes is kind of the wrong decision in ways, because you can't see any of these girls going.

Is Graham Norton funny when the cameras aren't rolling?

Jessie: He's a laugh-and-a-half but, on and off camera, he's exactly the same person, he's got a personality that just shines out and he's a lovely guy to be around.

Jodie: He's got a heart of gold and a lot of people don't see that because, I suppose, you just see him presenting. He's so caring and he's got two of the most adorable dogs you have ever seen. But he's a lovely, really grounded fella.

Samantha: When the cameras aren't on, I was really surprised because he's so down to earth and chatty, he does actually care about us all individually. He is really hilarious which I was pleasantly surprised at because most comedians off camera might be a bit dull, but he's not at all, he's brilliant.

How hard is it preparing the routines each week?

Jessie: It's pretty intense - we do work really hard and there's never a moment where you'll see us slacking off, because when we're not training we're in the toilets practising our songs. It's not a chore for us, we love doing it.

Jodie: As the weeks have gone on, it's got a little bit easier because you know what's coming. And we have fun - I like a bit of dancing.

Samantha: It's very hectic to prepare the routines because we've got so many, and especially this week, but it's all going to be worth it hopefully.

Who is your ideal Bill Sikes?

Jessie: It would be a close competition between Johnny Depp and James McAvoy because I have an awful soft spot for James McAvoy, he's like my ideal guy, so if James McAvoy's out there I'd just like to say I'm single at the moment� I'm only messing.

Jodie: Ooh, it would have to be Gerard Butler from [romantic comedy] PS I Love You. Don't worry, I've got a fella, I'm taken.

Samantha: I think Johnny Depp would be an incredible Bill Sikes. Obviously, it's not going to happen but it would be brilliant because he's good at getting into character roles and I just think he'd be a really interesting and different Bill Sikes.

Are you nervous at the prospect of possibly sharing the stage with Rowan Atkinson?

Jessie: What a privilege and opportunity [it would be] to play opposite THE Mr Bean because he's somebody that you watch in cartoons when you're growing up. He's going to be fantastic.

Jodie: I don't want to imagine him as Mr Bean because I know that's so far away, but I just think it would be phenomenal. I've grown up with him and Blackadder and all the films and series he's done, and it would be an absolute honour to be on stage with him because he's just fantastic.

Samantha: It would be petrifying but so exciting, he's just such a massive acting figure, he really gets into his characters and he's really going to be an incredible Fagin so that would be a definite challenge to play alongside him.

What have been your best and worst moments on the show?

Jessie: My best was getting into the final 12 when we were in Andrew Lloyd Webber's house because it was just that feeling of relief, knowing that people like that believe in you. Probably the worst was waiting to hear if I was in the final 12 because I think that day was definitely the most intense that we've gone through.

Jodie: Best was the first show because all the girls had worked so hard and it was the highest energy show - I started crying. I think I'm so soppy. And the worst was stepping into the first audition. I was so scared, I'd not really sung in two years and I was just going to give it up. To step into the audition thinking I might not get it. I used to be 22 stone and that always used to be the fault for that. But I was just me now and I had nothing to hide behind, so that was really, really tough for me.

Samantha: My best was getting to meet Idina Menzel [from the musical Wicked] and getting to sing Defying Gravity, in a way that she'd helped me with. And the worst was finding out you're in the sing-off, that was a hard moment but then the excitement that I was in the final balanced it out so I was fine in the end.

The contestants were interviewed by BBC News entertainment reporter Helen Bushby.

The final of I'd Do Anything is on BBC One on Saturday at 1800 BST with the results at 2045 BST.

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