JAKE QUICKENDEN LAYS IT BARE

As the singer and reality TV star hits the road with a new stage production of The Full Monty, he tells us about the importance of family

- JANE DOWDESWELL

After a life of music, singer Jake Quickenden will have to contain himself if he feels the desire to burst into song over the next few months as he takes on a full-time acting role in the new touring production of The Full Monty.

"I've done musicals with acting in them but there's always been a lot of singing, too, so now it's nice to concentrate solely on acting," says the former The X Factor contestant, I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! runner-up and winner of Dancing on Ice. "I'll just bust out a few tunes in the dressing room.

That's fine!" Jake, who turns 35 on Sunday, plays Guy in the nationwide tour, which kicks off in Cheltenham next month to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the hit film about a group of unemployed Sheffield steelworkers who, in desperation, come up with an inventive way to earn some cash.

"I remember watching it with my dad when I was younger," he says. "I'm from Scunthorpe, which is a steel town as well, so it resonated with my family.

"My dad worked at the steelworks, I did, and my big brother still works there now."