I've got a story to tell ...and it's a good one

Actress, singer, dancer and presenter Denise Van Outen tells MARION McMULLEN she cannot wait to return to the stage

- MARION MCMULLEN

My family were from the East End of London and they moved out to Essex, which was the thing people did in the 80s. My dad used to be a docker and he got moved to Tilbury Docks from East India Docks and there was not much for kids to do.

When did your love of performing start?

It was kind of standard that girls went to dance school and the boys went to Scouts and my brother did St John Ambulance. Those were the clubs you went to as kids and I loved dancing straight away.

I fell in love with it and I found 'my thing' that I wanted to do. Then it all snowballed from there.

I did a bit modelling as a child and got into Les Miserables when I was 11. I feel very lucky that I have go to do so many incredible things.

Has it been tricky going from presenting to performing?

I think when I was presenting and then I wanted to go and do theatre there was a bit of snobbery around the fact that I was from TV and it was very much 'but, oh, can she do it?' but I knew I could do it because that’s what I started out doing so I wasn’t worried about it.

I've always had a very strong work ethic, I've always worked really hard.

I think I went off sick once doing Chicago when I had laryngitis and I couldn’t get any sound out but other than that, even when I have a cold, I just work through it.

What was it like appearing in Chicago on Broadway?