Sheridan Smith unveils her singing talent in her very own TV special

In a silky black frock, her hair slicked back in a rock-chick Mohawk, Sheridan Smith belts out the show tune Don’t Rain On My Parade from Funny Girl.

Striking poses, winking knowingly and singing straight to camera, Sheridan commands the stage and orchestra, showing off not only her wonderful voice but her talents as a performer who can hold an audience captive. 

It’s the barnstorming opening number of Sheridan, this week’s one-off ITV extravaganza in which the actress performs a clutch of her favourite songs and, in between, chats with host Alexander Armstrong. It marks a triumphant comeback for Sheridan, who suffered a very public meltdown – she was forced to pull out of her starring role in the West End show Funny Girl last year due to stress and illness, and last December lost her father, Colin, to cancer. 

But now Sheridan is back to her best and about to release her first (self-titled) album. She explains that she’d previously turned down two offers to record an album.

“I didn’t have the guts to do it and my dad kept saying, ‘Do it! Why won’t you do it?’” recalls Sheridan.

“And I was like, ‘No, no, I’m an actor.’ At the end of Funny Girl, they asked me again. I thought that with my dad passing away, it would be such a nice thing to dedicate to him. He’d be so proud.”

In her between-song chats with Armstrong in Sheridan, it’s clear that there’s a big difference between Sheridan the actress and performer, and Sheridan the person.

Offstage, Sheridan is self-effacing – she talks quickly, giggles nervously and lacks the chutzpah and self-possession of her onstage alter ego. But she doesn’t gloss over the turmoil of last year – she even sings Gnarls Barkley’s song Crazy as an acknowledgement of her past troubles. 

“I had a bad year last year with my dad passing away,” admits Sheridan.

“You can’t choose when it happens, but you come out the other side stronger. I thought I’d give a tongue-in-cheek wink to the fact that I lost my mind a little. But I’m back!”

She certainly is. Sheridan’s voice is in good shape and she’s hard at work, starring in another ITV drama, Clean Break, about a skint office cleaner who turns insider stock trader.

She is an actress of note: after comedy turns on The Royle Family, Gavin & Stacey and Two Pints Of Lager And A Packet of Crisps, Sheridan has proven herself an impressive leading lady – she won a best actress BAFTA for her role as Great Train robber Ronnie Biggs’ wife in Mrs Biggs, and two Laurence Olivier Awards for stage roles.

Sheridan’s turns as real-life women Cilla Black in Cilla, cancer patient Lisa Lynch in The C Word and Julie Bushby in The Moorside have all earned her acclaim and positioned her as a talent to be reckoned with. 

It was Jeff Pope, writer of Mrs Biggs and Cilla, who recognised Sheridan’s qualities as a leading lady. On the role in Mrs Biggs, she recalls, “I got a script sent to me by Jeff Pope – it was Mrs Biggs. Those roles don’t come along very often. I thought there was no way I’d get it because I’d only done comedy.

“I got the make-up artist to give me a beehive, I’d learned all the lines… I was the last of 23 [to be auditioned]. Amazingly, I got it. I’ve been lucky in that way.”

What’s so compelling about Sheridan as an actress is the vulnerability she brings to roles, but which seems to cause havoc in her personal life. It is particularly evident in Sheridan when she sings the torch song And I Am Telling You from the musical Dreamgirls – Sheridan’s face is streaked with tears by the end. 

“The words mean a lot because it’s about never giving up and… just staying determined,” explains Sheridan of the song.

“And whatever you go through – highs and lows – you just keep going… It gets me every time I do it.”

Sheridan’s turbulent love life has generated headlines in the past few years, too. Admitting sheepishly that she’s “a disaster when it comes to relationships”, she says boyfriends struggle with her workaholic tendencies. Although Sheridan has been snapped with model Graham Nation recently, she claims she’s single. 

But watching Sheridan, fans will be relieved that the girl from Lincolnshire appears to be back to her best. Her girl-next-door twinkle, her acting talent and her ability to have an audience enthralled by her singing performances is a rare combination of talents, and worthy of ITV’s one-woman star vehicle. 

Sheridan Sunday, 9pm, ITV