Nuttall is credited as the youngest actress to understudy and play the lead role of Christine in
The Phantom of the Opera (at age 17) (National Tour), Shortly before leaving
Emmerdale, Nuttall appeared in
Notes from New York at the
Trafalgar Studios opposite
Jon Lee and
Julie Atherton. In 2005, she released her debut album as a
classical vocalist,
Best Days, on
EMI Classics and filmed music videos for her tracks "Best Days", "No Greater Gift" and a version of "
Scarborough Fair", which was heavily requested on
Classic FM TV.
Best Days peaked at number four in the
UK classical chart and was nominated for Album of the Year at the 2006
Classic BRIT Awards. In the same year, Nuttall took part in the reality TV programme
Celebrity Shark Bait, which also featured
Richard E. Grant and
Ruby Wax and appeared in
Celebrate Oliver, a musical special for
BBC1. In the autumn of 2005, Nuttall toured the UK extensively as
Eliza Doolittle in
My Fair Lady to critical acclaim. She shared the role with
Lisa O'Hare on the National Tour due to other commitments with her first album. The tour started on 5 October 2005 at the
Palace Theatre in Manchester and ended on 12 August 2006 at the
Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff. In January 2007, Nuttall performed on
BBC Radio 2's
Friday Night is Music Night with an 80-piece live orchestra and in May 2007, she joined the cast of the stage revival of
Boeing-Boeing at the
Comedy Theatre opposite
Patricia Hodge,
Mark Rylance and
Roger Allam. On 2 October 2007, Nuttall replaced
Kim Medcalf in the London production of
Cabaret at the
Lyric Theatre, transferring directly from her role in
Boeing-Boeing. In April 2008, Nuttall's initial six-month contract was extended until the production's closure on 21 June. Nuttall appeared in
Hotel Babylon in 2009 as Melanie Hughes, the new hotel receptionist. Later that year, she returned to the
Octagon Theatre, Bolton to play
Stella Kowalski in the
Tennessee Williams classic
A Streetcar Named Desire. She shared the role of the Lady of the Lake in the UK tour of
Spamalot, which began on 18 October 2010 at the
Edinburgh Playhouse. From September 2011, Nuttall began appearing in the second series of
Downton Abbey, appearing as the new maid,
Ethel. In December 2011, she appeared in
Noises Off at London's
Old Vic until March 2012. On 14 July 2011, Nuttall was awarded an
Honorary Degree of
Doctor of Arts by the
University of Bolton. On 8 June 2013, Nuttall starred in the Saturday Drama on
BBC Radio 4. Entitled
The Weather Girl, she played the lead role of Abigail, a prisoner whose mental state is assessed by a clinical psychologist. In 2019, Nuttall lent her voice to
Olga in
HISTORY's podcast
Letters of Love in WW2 - a series based on the real-life letters of a couple separated by the Second World War. In 2024, Nuttall played a grown-up "Little" Jane Butterfield in
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, a sequel to 1988's
Beetlejuice, replacing Rachel Mittelman, who originated the role in the original film. ==Personal life==