How an ex-Magic Mike stripper charmed super-woke Evita star Rachel Zegler – but will the curtain fall on their romance once her West End run finishes? By SARAH RAINEY Published: 00:39 BST, 13 July 2025 | Updated: 00:39 BST, 13 July 2025 e-mail View comments At exactly 9.05pm every evening, a hushed silence descends outside the London Palladium. Tourists scurrying along Argyll Street stop in their tracks; traffic grinds to a halt; shoppers put down their shopping bags – and look up.
For there, behind iron railings on the first-floor balcony, a petite young woman with blonde hair, wearing a white ball gown, diamond necklace and glittering chandelier earrings, emerges from the theatre to sing her heart out to passers-by. The figure is Rachel Zegler , the 24-year-old American actress who has been crowned the newest darling of the West End for her star turn as Eva Peron in the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Evita. Her alfresco performances of the iconic ballad Don’t Cry For Me Argentina attract thousands of fans each night, while millions have swooned over now-viral recordings uploaded to social media.
Inside the theatre, ticket-holders and other cast members watch Rachel perform on a 20ft screen, many of them so rapt by her rendition that they are moved to tears. Among them, and more moved than most, is Nathan Louis-Fernand. Officially listed as part of the ‘swing’ backing ensemble for Evita, the 27-year-old Londoner also has another title: Rachel’s boyfriend.
The pair, .