DJ Peter Holmes is well known as the cheery breakfast DJ, but his life holds a heart-breaking story. SALLY KING talks to him as he rehearses for the panto at the Cliffs

Peter Holmes has the well-earned reputation as the Mr Nice Guy of radio but his life has thrown some seriously testing times at him. He is currently rehearsing his part in the Cliffs Pavilion panto Jack and the Beanstalk, starring John Inman as the Dame.

And Peter Holmes' part? You've guessed it - the genial King Crumble of Pantoland!

Picture the scene. A young Peter Holmes - commercial radio in Essex personified - is standing with his career teacher at Westcliff High School.

"What do you want to do then Holmes?" he is asked. "I want to be a broadcaster sir," says the boy who will grow into one of Essex's most popular DJs.

"Very funny Holmes! You're going to be an engineer." barks the teacher, before propelling the young man out of the door and into the training that sees him qualify in a profession that, while very useful, is clearly not the one for Holmesy.

Not surprisingly, it didn't last. Peter got into the travel industry and travelled Europe as a rep before ending up in the marketing side of the business.

"Then I heard that two presenters on Essex Radio had given notice, so I put together a demo tape to see what happened," says Mr Breakfast-time.

The tape worked, Peter got a Saturday morning slot as a freelance and everything was great - until the station went and spoiled it all by asking him to go full-time.

"There I was doing a job I loved and being paid for my hobby and they wanted to change it," he wails. Eventually the station made him an offer he couldn't refuse and Peter Holmes DJ was launched into a mid-morning slot.

He was soon hosting the breakfast show, flagship of the station, and chatting in bedrooms all over the county. "It's a terrific responsibility waking people up," he says. "I don't really think about the glitzy side."

His easy manner and relentless energy have won him fans that have matured alongside him. Three years ago, when he returned to the station after surviving meningitis ("The head-ache from hell"), he was moved to the breakfast slot on the newly promoted Essex FM's new AM sister The Breeze. Old DJs never die, they simply fade into mono.

"Essex FM attracts listeners under the age of 30 and Breeze from 30 to 50," explains the 45-year-old. "What better job could I have? Breeze is a great station.

"The bulk of what we play is '70s and '80s music which is my era. Lets face it, as you get older you are less in touch with the charts. I'm growing old gracefully.

"That was shouted at me when I was training for the Florida Marathon. Malcolm Frost, a well-known local character, saw me pounding down the road, and wound down the window of his car shouting: 'Holmesy! Why don't you grow old gracefully like the rest of us?"

Being famous has it's drawbacks. Listeners relate to Peter as though they know him: "It means a lot to me. People call and say things like 'you talk about the things we talk about' and 'you get me up with a smile'.

"But it can be quite difficult when I pop out to get some quick shopping and someone stops me for a chat. If they stop me I must give them time."

Which is doubtless the attitude that has won him the reputation of radio's Mr Nice-guy.

However, it can have it's drawbacks. "I was washing my car outside my house last summer and a bus full of people pulled up," he recalls.

"The driver, Mick, shouted 'Hello Holmesy! I just wanted to stop and say hello.' It can also be difficult to have a quiet family outing."

However his life isn't as charmed as it might appear. True he has a job he loves, a happy 15-year marriage to Barbara and three beautiful daughters. But the DJ who gets up at 4.30am has had to deal with real heart-ache in his off-air life.

All of Peter's daughters - Lucy, 13, Anna, ten, and eight-year-old Sophie - were born prematurely.

Lucy was seven weeks early the other two a more frightening ten weeks. "Anna was only 2lbs 13oz. Sophie was bigger but she has a problem.

"When she was about three weeks old a nursing friend asked if she could pop upstairs and see her. When she got there Sophie was blue. She had stopped breathing.

"Our friend resuscitated her and we got her to hospital. While she was there the same thing happened. She was in intensive care for four days.

"Tests proved she had cystic fibrosis. Because it is an inherited condition we felt we were to blame.

"But in the end you have to cope and you have to accept that life is limited by the fact that your child must have two hours of physiotherapy every day.

"To eat anything she has to take pancreatic enzymes. She takes at least 50 a day."

Sophie, although the most sensitive of the Holmes's children, takes it in her stride. Indeed such was her zest while collecting for the CF Society recently that she took a collecting box home and put it outside her bedroom door. Any visitors must pay to enter.

"When she was diagnosed we learnt there was little chance of her getting through her teenage years," Peter explains. "Research has come on a lot in eight years and her life expectancy has now doubled.

"Doctors are working on a new gene therapy for CF. They are currently conducting human trials at Brompton Hospital.

"Professor Duncan Geddes, who is in charge there, said that if the defence budget was diverted for two months we could have a cure by Christmas."

Surprisingly school governor and regular church-goer Peter shows no great emotion as he lays bare these facts.

"If you met her she's fine. But if she runs she coughs and if she laughs she coughs. Luckily she is relatively well. Others aren't so lucky."

Peter is currently preparing to appear in panto at the Cliffs Pavilion, Southend with John Inman, Gladiator Vogue and Glenn Murphy from London's Burning.

"I was in panto at the Cliffs seven years ago with Wayne Sleep," remembers Peter happily. "I have done two pantos on ice in Chelmsford since then, but being back at the Cliffs is special.

"I will play King Crumble of Pantoland. I'm looking forward to working with John Inman, who is playing Dame Wanda. He's a good lad John; he's lovely."

Catching my raised eyebrow Peter laughs: "Wayne Sleep said to me 'Come out of the closet! You've got the perfect cover - a wife and three daughters!'." Peter declined.

He does admit to having been bitten by the stage bug though: "I want to be up there. I do love it. I don't know about serious stuff - I'd give it a go, but comedy is more me."

Once again Peter Holmes has a job he loves and is being paid to do his hobby.

Jack and the Beanstalk is at the Cliffs pavilion, Station Road, Westcliff from December 18. Tickets are available from the box office on 01702 351135

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