A tearful Sheridan Smith has said she considered giving up performing after the death of her father.
The actress was devastated by the loss of Colin Smith in 2016 and pulled out of an appearance at the Royal Variety Performance shortly afterwards.
Her parents – Colin and Marilyn – formed the Country and Western duo, The Daltons, and Smith and her brother Damian, who is part of the band The Torn, often performed with them on stage.
During a show at the Royal Albert Hall, which follows the release of self-titled album Sheridan, she told the audience: “I did the album for my dad. There was a time, as everyone goes through, I kind of just lost it and I was totally going to give it all up.
Still can't believe I'm playing my dream venue the Royal Albert Hall on the 24/4/18 🙈❤️😬 #tour pic.twitter.com/dHKjV7Pq9t
— Sheridan Smith (@Sheridansmith1) November 21, 2017
“And the reason I didn’t is you guys. I’ve met so many of you guys and you’re the reason I get up. You’re so supportive.”
Introducing a rendition of This Is Me from the film The Greatest Showman, she said: “This next song I would like to dedicate to my daddy. If my dad was here he would be saying shake every single one of your hands, he was so proud.”
Smith opened her show with a rendition of Crazy by Gnarls Barkley and concluded it with an encore of I Will Survive by Gloria Gaynor.
Throughout the performance she also treated fans to renditions of 9 to 5 by Dolly Parton and Shirley Bassey’s Big Spender.