Exclusive: As empty theatres across Australia suffer from major cancellations, Samantha Jade feels “very lucky” to be on stage.

“There’s a bit of sadness, weirdly,” said the 39-year-old following her final opening night of Pretty Woman: The Musical as the production premiered in Melbourne’s Regent Theatre this week.

Samantha Jade is Vivian in Pretty Woman: The Musical.  Daniel Boud

“There’s excitement too … obviously the industry is in a really weird place right now, we’re so aware there’s a lot of shows closing,” she told nine.com.au.

Those shows include two major productions Beetlejuice and Waitress which will no longer be making their way to Sydney theatres, and Anastasia: The Musical closing this weekend.

“I’ve been in the industry since I was 15 and there’s always an uncertainty until I’m actually doing the job”, said the 2012 X-Factor winner, who shines as Vivian Ward the Pretty Woman stage adaptation.

“But I couldn’t imagine going to work every day and having to close early. You become a family with these people. It’s not lost on us how lucky we are, truly.”

Fellow Aussie Natalie Bassingthwaighte was not so lucky, following the abrupt cancellation of her musical Waitress in Sydney.

The 50-year-old said her “heart was hurting” for Australian theatre and the arts, after all planned shows in the city were cancelled due to low ticket sales.

“You know what I love about Nat, she’s such a girl’s girl,” Jade responded. “She’s always been supportive of me.”

Sami said she still gets “nervous” performing on stage.  Instagram/@samanthajade

In fact, Bass was a judge on X-Factor when Jade made her debut to the world.

“I think it’s just so important to show support for Australian art. Go to Australian films, stream Australian TV shows, Australian music,” Jade urged when then asked if she had a message for fans.

“Go to the theatre if you can, enter the theatre lottery for $40 tickets. If you can’t get out to see a show, which I totally understand, my god things are expensive, just post about it with your community of friends.

Jade joins Ben Hall, who stars as Richard Gere’s character Edward Lewis in the hit musical, featuring a rockin’ score by Bryan Adams.  Daniel Boud

“We need to support each other and to know how great we are, and not play things down. We need to start playing things up because we have so much talent here,” she said.

Jade’s talent shines in her first-ever theatre role. Forget her collective 91 million streams and 2.3 million sales worldwide, it’s this role that’s been her most challenging to date.

“Julia Roberts is my favourite actor and I remember thinking, oh gosh, how do you take on something that is so iconic by someone so iconic?” she recalled.

The production features all your favourite moment moments.  Daniel Boud

The heart-warming musical, which kicked off in Brisbane in October 2025, has begun its final run in Melbourne, until its spectacular close September this year.

“You know, we’ve been doing it for nearly a year now, and it’s one of the hardest things I’ve ever done,” she admitted.

“The respect I have now for theatre performers is on another level,” she laughed.

As the star was hours away from hair and make-up ahead of her next performance, Jade confessed she still gets “nervous” going out on stage.

“I think it’s because I want to do a great job,” she explained. “I love what I do, and I want the audience to love it too.”

Pretty Woman: The Musical is showing now until 13 September 2026 at Regent Theatre, Melbourne.