Meet the Crufts champion dog who is stealing the show at a York pantomime

• Watch Helen Steel's report

A Crufts champion dog has become the star of the show at a York pantomime.

Starring alongside the likes of former Eastenders star Nina Wadia, Raven favourite James Mackenzie and York panto veteran Robin Simpson, Zeus the border collie has upstaged his more experienced colleagues in Jack and the Beanstalk at the Theatre Royal.

"Any other dog but Zeus I would be really upset but Zeus really is the star of the show," Simpson, who plays Dame Trott, said. "He is fantastic."

To many watching it may look as if Zeus does not know what he is doing at times but the show has been planned this way. The six-year-old dog, who was previously a Young Kennel Club Crufts trophy winner, is particularly agile and has been trained to perform on stage.

"Zeus may not look like he knows what he's doing, I don't know truly what I'm doing, but Zeus knows exactly what he's doing," Simpson explained. "It's all planned and it's all part of the action. He's trained to do the routine so it looks like it is going wrong but actually, he is doing exactly what he should be doing."

Zeus has proved to be popular and festive theatregoers have flocked to see him in action.

"He is really popular," said Juliet Forster from the York Theatre Royal. "Everyone is talking about him at the intervals and people have come to see him."

There are still plenty of chances to see Zeus in action with the pantomime set to run until 7 January 2024.

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