John Barrowman Ties Welsh knot in Cardiff

On Wednesday, December 27 veteran West End and Broadway leading man John Barrowman and his partner of 16 years Scott Gill formally embarked upon a  Civil Partnership in a ceremony in Cardiff, Wales. Barrowman, ceremoniously dressed in a Scottish kilt, swore his "marriage" vows with architect Gill in front of a small group of 40 friends at the St. David's hotel in Cardiff bay. Scottish born Barrowman, who was brought up in Joliet, Illinois, has recently made his home in the Welsh capital. 

Speaking of his gay "marriage" to the BBC, Barrowman commented:  "It feels great.....It's been a long wait but we legitimised our relationship to each other a long time ago when we signed our mortgages together and this is just something that forces people who don't want to recognise it that they have to."  

Having played his first West End leading role opposite Stephanie Powers in the ill-fated musical "Matador", John Barowman went on to establish himself as a bona fide musical theatre star, playing the leads in West End productions of such shows as "Anything Goes", "Miss Saigon", "Beauty and the Beast", "Sunset Boulevard" and "The Fix" (Olivier Award nomination) as well as replaying Joe Gillis in "Sunset Boulevard" and wowing audiences in Sondheim's "Putting It Together" on Broadway. In 2002 his performance as Bobby in "Company" at D.C.'s Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts won him high praise from Sondheim himself. 

In 2006 Barrowman has achieved fame with a wider TV audience as one of the judges in Andrew Lloyd Webber's high profile and controversial "How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?" talent show as well as playing Captain Jack Harkness in the hit BBC "Dr. Who" spin-off series, "Torchwood" - filmed on location in Cardiff. He is currently gracing the stage of Cardiff's New Theatre as another Jack in the pantomime "Jack and the Beanstalk". And with a second series of Torchwood planned for 2007, John Barrowman seems set to be spending more time in his adopted home in Cardiff.