Jump the queue for top-secret theatre tickets from £4, including West End shows... but only if you can keep your mouth shut

There are a few different sites that do this (see more below), but we're focusing on Central Tickets, as it's the biggie which is free to sign up to and is accepting members right now. There's normally a long waiting list to join, but you can skip this and effectively jump the queue if you go via our special link by 11.59pm on Monday 10 February 2020.

Sadly we can't give you full info on exactly what tickets are available – because members themselves are forbidden from giving details, and because the site's only given us a link to let you sign up on the condition we don't spill the beans. So the shows you can see are hidden away on the site until you join. 

But we can tell you they include some top West End shows (which sell out quickly), including Christmas pantos and concerts, plus lots more fringe theatre, dance shows, opera, ballet and cinema. Shows are usually at very late notice. The majority of offers are for in and around London, however other cities feature too – recently, it's had deals for Glasgow, Leeds and Manchester.

In a nutshell, you register to join the site, scroll through the list of available shows and usually pay £4 to £7 per ticket. The idea is you get the tickets at a super-low price in exchange for helping to create an atmosphere at underfilled performances.

How good are the deals?

The price you'll pay varies, and there's no way of seeing what's on offer until you join, but tickets are often drastically reduced – in the vast majority of examples we've seen, these are really good deals.

When we checked, we saw a London musical for £5, when tickets usually cost £13-£47.50, plus a Christmas concert for £6.50 (usually £30-£38) and a talk from a business figure for £4 (usually £57). In the past, we've seen tickets for a big West End show from as little as £4, though you'll have to move quickly to grab deals like that.

It's worth being aware that once you're in you'll see a tab on the site for 'West End offers'. Don't click on this if you just want the cheap seat-filling deals – the 'West End offers' page is entirely separate, offering standard theatre discounts. Central Tickets also sends emails promoting these more general West End deals. We don't check these out, so don't assume they will be the cheapest on the market.

This is the first time we've covered Central Tickets, and there's little feedback on it online currently – probably because those who use it are actively discouraged from sharing details on social media. But our very own resident theatre guru MSE Rosie has used it and had some luck...