Two star-struck entertainers from Cross Roads and Silsden have beaten off hundreds of competitors to a life on the ocean wave.

And now Lesley Carol, of Haworth Road, Cross Roads, and Mark Allen, of West View, Silsden, have set sail entertaining guests on a Mediterranean cruise.

They are among a troupe of 17 entertainers who have secured berths aboard the cruise ship MV Bolero with First Choice holidays after auditions in Leeds and London which attracted more than 500 people.

Lesley, 26, a dancer by training, has been appointed assistant cruise director and will be presenting the acts and administering the team.

Actor Mark, 27, who studied performing arts at college and has sung in clubs around the district, will spend the eight months singing and dancing on the ship.

Lesley said she was both excited and delighted to have been selected to join the team.

Speaking from the cruise ship, she said: "I'm enjoying it very much. It's hard work but I get a lot of pleasure and self-satisfaction from it."

The task of recruiting the entertainers fell to the Keighley-based Daley Partnership, run by mother and daughter team Mollie and Susannah Daley, who in the 1970s and 80s were members of the successful Keighley youth theatre HYT.

They formed their partnership seven years ago and recruit actors and performers for visitor attractions throughout the area.

They have worked for Bradford's National Museum of Photography, Film and Television, the Bronte Parsonage Museum in Haworth and Tetley's Brewery Wharf as well as with management groups to help develop better communication and management skills.

Mrs Daley said: "But landing the recruitment contract with First Choice holidays at the end of last year marked a definite first for us in the world of cruise ship entertainment."

They had to prove their skills in an audition before First Choice bosses at Blackpool Tower.

"We never realised we would eventually go on to audition over 500 people in Leeds and London to find the tight-knit team of players we needed for the cruise," she said.

The vessel set off from Palma in Majorca - where Lesley and Mark were photographed - last Saturday bound for locations in France, Italy and Spain.

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