In reality though, it's not all that glamorous, as Joe Pasquale was only too pleased to reveal.

Speaking on his hands-free mobile phone, he gave the Gazette a few minutes of his time while en route to a resort not exactly synonymous with the paparazzi or supermodels – Bridlington.

"I like Brid. I've been there a few times," he remarked graciously.

That's the impression you get of the Essex-born entertainer. He's one of those nice people who doesn't have a bad word to say about anyone – or anywhere – and never takes his good fortune for granted.

Considering he once toiled thanklessly as a civil servant in the Department of Transport and Environment, before going on to work in London's Smithfield meat market and later still a building site, you can see why.

"I didn't want to get up in the morning to be honest. That was the main reason to get into showbiz," he admitted.

Never meant for the life of an average Joe, his first break into the industry came when he got a job as a holiday camp entertainment manager.

Though it provided the perfect springboard into the showbiz life he craved, fame didn't come easy; not even after he came second on TV talent show New Faces in 1987.

"You spend the first few years just trying to find some work. It takes 20 years to become an overnight sensation," said the 48-year-old.

Back then, however, he did make one invaluable contact which would lead to one of his career highlights thus far – being a guest on the 25th anniversary of The Muppet Show in 2001.

"I got friendly with the producer about 20 years ago and did his son's bar mitzvah," Joe explained.

"He phoned me up and said 'we want you to go on the show, as you're like a human muppet'.

"I got on the plane, and Brooke Shields and Jon Voight were on there. I was in a trailer with him for three days.

"He was fantastic, just a normal bloke. Brooke Shields was lovely too, but sadly I didn't share a trailer with her."

Though never really off our screens for the past decade with shows such as An Audience With Joe Pasquale and The Price Is Right, the renaissance in his fortunes came in 2004, when he won the fourth series of the ITV show I'm a Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here!

"It was quite boring a lot of the time, but they edit it to make it look more exciting.

"What you don't see is 23 hours of people sat around breaking wind and arguing with each other. I loved the experience though."

Asked what it was like being buried with rats for the bush tucker trail, he replied: "It was enough to frighten the life out of you, but I would do it again."

This fearlessness would later lead to him entering a prison as part of Virgin One's The Prisoner: X, where various celebrity presenters were placed in some of the world's harshest prisons.

Joe's temporary residence was the infamous San Rafael prison in Costa Rica, where, after a rush of blood to the head, he challenged one of the toughest inmates to a boxing match.

"When there's a camera in front of you; you tend to do anything. I did panic later though. He could have killed me, but didn't."

Instantly enraptured by the sport of gentlemen, he has taken it up with evangelical zeal.

"I love it, though I do get beat up a lot. I know a lot of coppers who go, and it's always good to punch a copper on the nose."

This boundless enthusiasm for all life has to offer is very much encapsulated in Joe's show, which comes to the Tyne Theatre, Newcastle, on November 7.

"It's two-and-a half hours of family stuff. Not many people are doing that nowadays. It's for everyone, from five to 95."

When told he has been described as a "comedy genius" in the same breath as Tommy Cooper, he highlighted again how modest he is.

"I'm more than happy with that, though I don't think I'm a comedy genius. Tommy Cooper was."

Like the great man himself though, he does put a bit of magic in his show.

"There's a bit of singing, Rolf Harris-type painting, a bit of magic, and even a bit of mind-reading. It's nothing too serious. We don't get a ouija board out or anything like that."

The show starts at 7.30pm, and tickets cost £17. For box office information, call 0844 493 9999.