Tim Vincent is fitting in a York pantomime between interviewing stars in the US. The former Blue Peter presenter tells Charles Hutchinson all about his busy life.

TIM Vincent's career is soon to hit a new peak.

No, not his role as Dandini in the Grand Opera House pantomime in York, but the biggest break of a television career that began with his role as alcoholic teenager Billy Ryan in ITV's Children's Ward at the age of 15.

Since July he has been interviewing international film stars for Access Hollywood, a show that goes out six nights a week on the NBC channel in the United States.

He came face to face with Tom Cruise, Denzel Washington, Will Smith, Robert DeNiro, Angelina Jolie, Scarlett Johansson and John Travolta in Venice, and last month he was flown to New York to host the show.

"I'm going back in January and that will be for the foreseeable future, so I'm pretty excited about that as it's such a big show over there," says Tim, who arrived in York yesterday to start rehearsals for Cinderella.

November in New York, December in York, then New York again in January, what a life he leads!

From Thursday to Wednesday's opening night may seem an impossibly short build-up, but Tim is not flustered. "The pantomime you'll see in York is basically the show we've done twice before in Torquay last year and Southport the year before, so we're like travelling minstrels. I'd say it's 95 per cent the same principal cast; we've got a new fairy, Jane Omorogbe, but the rest of the team is the same.

"They run a tight ship in rehearsals, and the thing is, I can genuinely say because we've done it before, we're fine with it. The things we have to learn are new dance routines, and I need a week to do that! I've got two left feet and it's probably the most difficult thing for me to do."

Tim has thrived on performing and presenting from a young age, first appearing in production at Theatre Clwyd at 13 when growing up in Wrexham and then becoming the youngest ever presenter on Blue Peter at 21.

"If there was any opportunity to be on stage I wanted to do it," he says, before joking about his reasons for doing it. "Possibly being a big head. No, I couldn't believe that this could be seen as a profession, that you could go out and entertain and that there were so many ways to do it."

To prove the point, in addition to hosting shows on Sky One and Living TV and presenting NBC's British version of Access Hollywood, he has starred as Adam Forrester in Emmerdale for a year, made his feature film debut in Sorted and played sexy Suzy in John Godber's nightclub play Bouncers and Mellors in Hull Truck Theatre's production of Lady Chatterley's Lover. He enjoys adding pantomime to that list.

"I suppose it's like climbing the Himalayas and saying 'Why climb it? Because it's there. I always said that if I enjoyed it - I first did it in 1997/98 - I would continue to do it. Even though it's hard work, this is the one chance you get to have a laugh with the audience, and you get the feedback of a live audience, which I love," he says.

Dandini is not usually a barrel of laughs, and in the past the Prince was a thigh-slapping role for long-limbed females. Tim takes that in his stride.

"The first time I played Dandini, it was pretty much the character on the page, but over the three years I've made him cheeky, calling him 'Princy Boy'," he says. "I think it's there for you to rewrite a little bit with men playing men."

Tim delights in taking on any challenge. "I've been called the Swiss Army Knife of presenters," he says. "I think it comes down to being hard working. I'm someone who works hard, and I've deliberately avoided falling out of nightclubs or doing anything that would draw bad publicity, so my reputation in the Long Room is good and they know I can do a good job."

If only he could get his dancing in order, and who better to help him than John Travolta, the dance god of Saturday Night Fever and Grease?

"For Access Hollywood, John Travolta gave me a dance lesson... with Scarlett Johansson. I was dancing around in a hotel in Venice with Scarlett, with John Travolta guiding us around. 'You're not bad', I told him. He laughed, thank god!"

Perhaps Tim can spread the pantomime gospel in America. "I'm always being asked in the States, 'What exactly is panto?'. I say, 'It's an all-round Christmas show where the audience can participate', and they say, 'What? It's like stand-up?'. 'No, but there are people from TV in it. 'Oh, so it's like a Vegas show?'. 'No!'"

Cinderella, Grand Opera House, York, December 8 to January 2 (no shows on December 9 and 10). Box office: 08709 606 3595.

Updated: 09:17 Friday, December 03, 2004