Strictly champion relishing his Sussex panto Prince Charming stint

He was Caractacus Potts in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and then the principal role of Stuart Piper in the world premiere of the Peter James’ thriller Picture You Dead. Then came Frederick Frankenstein in Mel Brooks’ comedy young Frankenstein.

Now comes panto in Crawley. He is in Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs running from December 5-31.

“Picture You Dead was wonderful,” he says. “I really enjoyed it. It was a new experience for me because I've not done a straight play before and you are using your skills in different ways. When you're doing a musical it is song and dance and you're motoring through and hopefully getting applause at the end but with a thriller the feedback from the audience is very different. It was great to do.”

Now it's on to panto. He admits he’s rather last count of how many he's done: “The first one I had a call from an agent saying that a panto wants to pay you money at Christmas and was I up for it and I did it. I just loved it.”

It is all part of life after winning the 14th season of Strictly Come Dancing in 2016.

“Strictly is such a big institution that people still love so much and it's still a wonderful thing that means you can go into a space and you can still wave that flag. But also what has been wonderful since I first did panto in 2019 is the hours that I've spent on stage and you build your credentials that you can take to the audience.

“I think panto is all about family whether it is the family in the audience or whether it is the family behind the scenes. It makes you really feel that you're part of something, and we all know that panto is one of the first steps into the theatre for many young children. It gives them memories as kids that they're going to take into their lives, things that they won't forget like the great costumes or that the lights are wonderful or that the music and dancing are great. It may be that’s what's going to encourage them to look for a job in the theatre later on or it maybe it's what's going to keep them coming back to the theatre and enjoying the theatre.”

For this latest panto, Ore is loving the thought of being Prince Charming: “I thought that my days of being Prince Charming were over! I turned 40 this year but it just shows if you keep using the moisturiser!”

As for the characterisation: “Most of my princes are quite camp. Given a chance that is my default but beyond that I just love to be directed and choreographed and to do what I'm told to do!”