IT may have opened doors for Jane McDonald, but one Cwmbran woman has turned down a lucrative singing spot on a cruise ship to launch her own bid for stardom.

Megan Fox, 20, from Garth Road, turned down two money-spinning job offers to play the pubs and clubs of South Wales.

While the Tredegar Workingmen's Club on a wet weekday night may not be as glamorous as being moored in the Caribbean, Ms Fox wants to get her name and face known on the South Wales music scene as the first step in a bid for stardom

The former Llantarnam Comprehensive School pupil and Coleg Gwent Pontypool student was tutored by Billy Ocean and Sophie Ellis Bextor while studying for a music diploma at the Vocal Tech singing school in London.

She also sang on stage at the London Palladium in a musical.

"I performed on a cruise ship last year but this year I decided to turn down two offers to go back to gigging around Wales," said Ms Fox, who was known as Samantha Spokes before reverting to her stage name.