HE’S sung in front of thousands of adoring fans, travelled all over the world and played some of music’s most iconic venues.

But despite all the fame and fortune, Scott Robinson remains a good old fashioned family man at heart.

Which is why it’s no surprise to find the actor, DJ, and of course singer with boy band Five, about to star in a pantomime at the Princes Theatre in Clacton.

Scott says: “This is my first ever panto. I had been offered them in the past but the timings just didn’t work out. This year my twins are the right age to enjoy the show and my eldest is probably at the right age to understand the jokes so I thought why not.

“Also what’s great about being in Clacton is that I’m about an hour away from home so every night I can come home and help Kerry with the children.”

Born and brought up in Pitsea, near Basildon, Scott still lives in the south Essex town with his wife Kerry and their four children, who range in age from 14 right down to his twin girls who turned two in January.

Appearing in the end of year Christmas show has been a nice distraction from the band, which has been a part of Scott’s life for nearly 20 years.

“The funny thing is I wasn’t going to go to the audition,” he tells me. “I saw the advert in the Stage newspaper, looking for people interested in being in a group that was labelled as the Spice Boys and on the morning of the audition I was just lying in bed. It was my dad who booted me out of the house and told me I had to go.”

And a good job he did because that audition would change Scott’s life.

“It was a bit like X Factor, without the cameras, oh and the sob stories,” he laughs. “The whole thing feels like a blur now, as though someone else was having that experience and not the younger me. I was too young to appreciate it really. Winning the awards and the fans was fantastic but it can get out of control. I was lucky because I had my girlfriend, now my wife, who kept me pretty grounded.”

Along with Sean Conlon, Ritchie Neville, Abz Love and Jason Brown, Scott signed a five album record deal with Simon Cowell and Sony BMG going on to sell more than 20million records worldwide before they initially split in 2001.

“It was a strange time for me,” he admits, “because the day after the band broke up I got married to Kerry. It was like one part of my life had ended and the next one was just beginning.”

Although it wasn’t quite the end of Five.

Some ten years later the band, minus Jason Brown, got back together to take part in the ITV show the Big Reunion, and despite the departure of a further member in Abz Love, the remaining guys still perform today.

Scott sighs: “Yeah, you get all the jokes about us being Five but with only three members, but I’m so glad we got back together. I love what we’re doing and this time around I can appreciate it. I was a kid back then but now we’re doing it for the right reasons. It’s also great for my children to see what their dad does.”

Except this Christmas they’ll be seeing a very different side to dad as he steps into the slippers of Aladdin at the Princes.

Having started his career in acting, Scott is actually no stranger to the stage.

“My sisters were into performing arts,” he begins, “but I was actually quite shy. Then one day I was in my bedroom and I started to sing and I thought ‘actually I’m not that bad at this’.

“My mum and dad could not afford to send me to theatre school, so I was very lucky to get a scholarship to go there. My first ever television was on an episode of Hale and Pace and my first acting job was in the West End doing Peter Pan with Nicola Stapleton and Ron Moody.”

So with Scott’s photographic memory for learning lines, rehearsals should be a breeze.

“Well I wouldn’t quite say that,” he adds. “I’m lucky that learning lines isn’t a problem but there’s all the other things to remember. Fortunately it’s panto and there’s quite a big element of improvisation going on. The producer basically said ‘as long as you get the lamp at the end, I don’t care what you do’. Seriously, I’m really looking forward to it and I hope this pantomime will be the first of many.”

• Aladdin Princes Theatre, Station Road, Clacton.

Saturday, December 12, to January 3. Various times.

£13.50, £12.50 concessions. 01255 686633.

www.tendringdc.gov.uk/leisure/events-entertainment/whats-on/