You’re no stranger to the world of pantomime. What is it that attracts you to spending a season in pantoland?

It’s just great fun. I see it like going to therapy for two months! From the minute you start in rehearsals to the last night, you laugh every single day for about 10 hours a day. It’s full of fun, laughter, singing, dancing, prancing around, making a fool out of yourself. It’s great fun and I love it! When I did it the first year, I didn’t know whether I was going to enjoy it or not. I loved it as a kid, but you don’t know what it’s going to be like being in one. I fell in love with it straight away, and this is my fourth year.

You’ll be working hard over Christmas. Do you have any festive traditions you’re determined to fit in, despite the heavy workload?

I’m probably not going to be able to go home because I’m quite far away and we get less than 24 hours off. We finish Christmas Eve. My family will probably come to me, we’ll probably get somewhere nice here to stay over Christmas. The great thing about panto is that it drags the whole Christmas period out for much longer. When everybody has that really deflated feeling after Christmas, we’re still going on until January, meaning you don’t get that post-Christmas slump. I don’t have enough time to eat all the bad food either, so there’s another bonus!

What’s at the top of your Christmas list this year?

I haven’t even thought about that. I’m not really a present person. I don’t mind not getting presents. I do love Creed aftershave, so maybe that. 

What are you most looking forward to about performing in Aladdin?

I’m told it’s one of the best pantos to be a part of because it’s got a lot of stuff in it that’s really fun. The past two I did were Snow White. I played the Spirit of the Mirror. I was Prince Charming in Cinderella the year before that, and I’m told Aladdin is most people’s favourite panto to watch. There are so many leads in the cast. You’ve got Lisa Riley, who’s a great actress and a fantastic dancer - as we saw on Strictly. Lucy Kay has got an amazing voice, we’ve got a magician, a kid’s entertainer, and Doreen Tipton, who’s going to be absolutely hilarious. I thought she was a real person. She turned up today with lovely long blonde hair, and then I clicked - it’s a character! Hilarious!

Who are you most looking forward to working alongside?

All of them, really. We’ve all been having a coffee between interviews, and all of us have been having a proper laugh. It makes such a difference if everybody gets on. I think you can tell already, everybody wants it to be a great show and there seems to be a real buzz about it. Everybody seems really excited. It’s going to be fun. I did Joseph in the summer here in Wolverhampton, and they were some of the very best audiences, so hopefully it’ll be the same for the panto.

And are you expecting any trouble from Doreen Tipton? We hear she’s quite mischievous...

Is she? I’m used to that now. What they all find out is that I’m the easiest person to make laugh, so within about four days of the show starting, they’ll all be trying to make me corpse on stage.

What’s it like having such a mega fanbase, and what’s the strangest gift you’ve ever received?

I’m very, very lucky. I’ve got amazing supporters out there who come and see the shows and follow the things that I do, and I’m forever grateful for that. Weirdest gift? Somebody threw a goldfish in a bag on stage once. I was doing an outdoor festival in Ireland. It was a huge outdoor gig, and as I went  to one end of the stage I saw this thing fly past me. I thought someone had thrown a volleyball or a football onto the stage, but it was actually a goldfish tied in a bag, like you get from the fair. I went back to Ireland two weeks later and somebody came up to me at a gig and told me they’d given the fish to a young girl, who’d kept it as a pet and called it Joe. It all ends well.

You won The X Factor back in 2009. Have you managed to catch any of this series?

I caught a bit last week. Honey G, wow! She’s certainly providing entertainment, isn’t she?! It’s a singing competition, but it’s also about entertainment. They’re not doing anything different to what they’ve done before - they always have that one act who creates all the headlines, and Honey G’s playing right into it and clearly having a wonderful time. If you really don’t like her, you don’t have to vote for her. It’s pretty simple, you don’t have to get angry about it.

Which of your achievements are you most proud of?

I think they’ve all been monumental in different ways throughout the past seven years. Obviously The X Factor was kind of a kick-start for everything, a huge launch for my whole career. Then I did Pop Star to Opera Star, which brought in different musical styles and new fans. Overall I just feel really lucky that I’m still getting to do stuff seven years down the line. When I won The X Factor, I worried so much about whether I’d still have a career two years later. It’s been wonderful, and I’m still having fun, which is the main thing.

And finally, what’s in the pipeline for 2017?

I’m going to be doing Joseph again, a 15th-anniversary tour from January until August, and then I’m going to go to sleep for about three years! There are lots of other exciting things going on that will be announced soon, so it should be another fun-filled year, I would imagine.

Aladdin shows at Wolverhampton Grand Theatre from 10 December - 22 January.