A ROMANTIC illusionist who appealed for an assistant to help out in her shows has found the perfect partner.

Sarah Collins, of Brydeck Avenue, Penwortham, was short of a helper for her show for the summer season.

She was hoping to find a male assistant and auditioned dozens of wannabes for the daring job before finding the perfect candidate right under her nose -- her fiancee David Lewis.

Sarah, 25, said: "We interviewed a lot of people. I got a lot of CVs, and some very strange people applied.

"But no one that I interviewed stood out so much that I wanted to give them the job."

Now David is working with his fiancee, he had better treat her well as he spends most of his time on stage being stabbed, sawn in half and folded into boxes.

Former Butlin's Redcoat Sarah said: "He is a box boy! He gets blades stuck into him, and gets put in some boxes in strange positions!

"I won't go in them, it's much too dangerous!"

Sarah trained for her magical job in Manchester when she was just 15 after teaching herself basic tricks from a magic manual.

Last year she met her husband-to-be on a cruise ship and the couple got engaged last May.

Sarah said: "David is a professional photographer. He has worked with me, and was a roadie on the show for a while. So he got to know the show in case I ever needed a stand-in as a back up.

"As we're a couple it all just falls into place nicely."

The couple's next performance will be at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, in London's West End.