Brian Conley tells Joanna Davis how it feels to have spent 42 years in showbiz and why he's so excited to be taking 'Dangerous Brian' out on the road again.

CHANCES are that at some point you've seen one of Brian Conley's acts.

No other show has been as successful as the Brian Conley Show - it is Britain's most watched light entertainment show.

The rubber-faced entertainer regularly attracted 12 million viewers in the 1990s, who would tune in to watch his variety act stuffed with memorable characters like Brian's alter-ego Dangerous Brian and Nick Frisbee, he of the ear worm catchphrase "It's a puppet!"

It was a surreal time, Brian reminisces down the phone line.

"We had 12 million viewers which was unprecedented for that time.

"I remember doing a show at the Blackpool Winter Gardens and I was completely amazed.

"3,500 people wanted to come and see me, I couldn't believe it when they told me they'd sold out.

"I was like 'oh my God!' It goes to show the power of television, I don't think people appreciate how powerful it is.

"I was plodding along doing the show every week and it was only when I started doing live shows that it dawned on me how popular it was."

Many of the characters from the Brian Conley Show will feature in Brian's new tour Alive and Dangerous.

It will come to Lighthouse, Poole, on February 19.

Brian knows Dorset pretty well - he did a summer season at Weymouth Pavilion back in the late 80s.

He said: "I remember performing with Norman Collier.

"It was my first experience of being in Weymouth. I had a lovely time down there.

"I remember the sand sculptor and seeing all of his sculptures.

"It's a shame they don't have the big summer seasons running for 10 weeks like they used to but it's a bit of a sign of the times with seaside resorts."

It's non-stop for Brian at the moment, having only just finished his stint as Buttons in Cinderella alongside Lesley Joseph of Birds of a Feather in Southend.

Brian is something of a professional 'Buttons', having performed numerous times as the character.

He said: "Cinderella was a huge success, we had over 55,000 people come to see it and it made £1.6 million.

"I really enjoy pantos, the cast was brilliant and they are brilliant to bring the kids to."

At the time of speaking to me Brian is about to start rehearsing for his show.

He said: "I'm an entertainer and I want to entertain people.

"Mat Ricardo will be there too and he's a brilliant variety act.

"Then we've got Dangerous Brian and Nick Frisbee 'It's a puppet!'. It's going to be a lot of fun.

"In fact it's going to be the most fun you can have with your clothes on!

"Strictly it's a variety show. There are many back stage anecdotes for the audience.

"I also do some stuff from the West End shows I've been in and there will be a big video screen with highlights from my illustrious career!"

Ah, yes, that long career, I say to Brian. While others have been and gone, Brian is still there.

He tells me: "I started when I was 12. I went to stage school and got my first proper job when I was 16 performing cabaret in nightclubs.

"I think the secret to my longevity is having a good strong background of doing the clubs and being able to turn my hand to other things like television, and I've loved doing my act and doing musicals.

"It's about having one finger in a few pies - I do stage work, television work, corporate work, you have to go to get the work out there and it is out there. The problem is there are a lot of famous people!"

And Brian has proved that he can turn his hand (or rather his feet) to anything.

He learnt tightrope walking for his stint as 'America's greatest showman' in Cameron Mackintosh's Barnum.

"I had to go to circus school twice a week. It was a demanding show and it challenged me in many ways and I really enjoyed it," he says.

Not content with his stage work, London-born Brian will be back on our small screens again soon with his second series of The TV That Made Me, which he is about to start recording at Shepperton Studies at the time of speaking to me.

He tells me: "I'll be talking to celebrity guests about their favourite TV shows.

"It's a vehicle to sit and talk about their childhood, what they liked as a teenager and so on.

"The first series was really successful and did really well in the ratings. This time around we'll be filming it with a studio audience and I'm really excited about that."

Millions of viewers tuned in to see Brian brave the Australian jungle on I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here.

He was forced to quit the show after he became ill and was diagnosed with malnutrition and exhaustion.

But would he venture back onto reality TV, I ask?

"I have been enjoying Celebrity Big Brother so maybe," he says.

"A friend of mine, Darren Day is on there. I think he's coming across very well. There are some seriously mad people in there!"

As well as Darren, Brian counts Les Dennis and Gok Wan among his showbiz mates.

With so much going on, I suggest to Brian that surely he's due for a holiday soon?

"I'll be resting my throat when I'm doing the tour.

"But I keep going. I love what I do.

"There's a clip of me on You Tube singing with a busker in Norwich, I was walking past and just wanted to start singing with him. I see a microphone and I'm there!

"I'm an entertainer through and through."

*Brian Conley Alive and Dangerous is at Lighthouse, Poole, on February 19.