Lee from Steps performing in Kent pantomime

Lee Latchford‑Evans found fame with 90s chart-topping group Steps, but has since become a star of the stage and is now appearing in a pantomime in Kent.

The singer and actor is playing the prince in Sleeping Beauty at the Central Theatre in Chatham until 4 January, saying performing in any form is always what he has wanted to do.

And although the show is a festive performance full of fairy tale magic, Latchford‑Evans is not straying too far away from his pop star roots.

"We're telling a story but we're having a lot of fun with it - and with this one you will get some Steps songs," he says.

"The great thing with pantomime, not that we should be getting things wrong, but we do get a lot of audience participation.

"Sometimes it does go off on a tangent slightly and I think the audience want that, and they like that, and maybe expect that in certain scenes."

Latchford‑Evans says acting has always been part of his life, and he was the same age his son is now when he first performed.

"I have memories of things, believe it or not, back then, the buzz and the feel I got, the excitement of it all," he said.

"That doesn't really go, and I think the nerves are always there but diminish over time, the more you do. You get more of a nervous, adrenaline, excitement feeling.

"I think if you are a performer it's in your soul, in your heart," Latchford‑Evans said.

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