Nicole Scherzinger wins Best Actress gong

Nicole Scherzinger has won the Best Actress in a Musical prize for her performance in Sunset Boulevard.

The Pussycat Dolls singer scooped the gong at this year's Olivier Awards, while her co-star Tom Francis took home Best Actor in a Musical.

Accepting her award, Scherzinger joked that she first wanted to thank God for stopping her from tripping on her way to claim it.

“Thank God for saving me from that trip right there,” she laughed.

The pop star also revealed: “Coming from really humble beginning, I always wanted to be a singer and do musicals.”

She added: “I dreamed of so may roles that I wanted to do. And honestly this role, Norma Desmond, was not one of those roles.

“But God works in mysterious ways, because it’s honestly one of the ballsiest and bravest things I’ve ever done.”

Scherzinger also said that she was “coming for blood” on Broadway, ahead of the production moving to New York.

Sunset Boulevard came out on top with an impressive seven wins at the Olivier awards, staged at the Royal Albert Hall in London on Sunday 14 April.

Jamie Lloyd won the Sir Peter Hall Award for Best Director and the show also won Best Musical Revival.

Jack Knowles took home the White Light Award for Best Lighting Design; Alan Williams won the Outstanding Musical Contribution award for his musical supervision and musical direction, and Adam Fisher won the d&b audiotechnik Award for Best Sound Design.

Sunset Boulevard's seven wins means it ties with Cabaret, Matilda and Hamilton for the most trophies ever in a single night.

Lloyd's revival of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical was staged with a monochrome colour scheme and a minimalist set design.