Pop Star H steps into new role

However H, AKA Ian H Watkins, a former member of the internationally successful pop group, took nothing for granted.

Indeed, after Steps danced their last line dance he went on to train at the Royal Academy of Music and at the Stella Adler Studio New York, in a bid to make the switch from pop to acting.

H - the nickname comes from being seen as hyperactive - could have retired to his farmhouse in south Wales and played with his horses and chickens. But he was determined to continue performing.

"It was important for me," he recalls, of the decision eight years ago.

"I knew I had the tools to perform, but I didn't know how to use them."

It showed a strength of character to be able to accept that while he had achieved showbiz success, he knew he wasn't quite up to the acting mark.

"That's it," he says, in agreement. "And I wanted to gain respect from casting directors. I wanted to earn roles, rather than be offered them because of the Steps connection."

H's determination paid off. After training, he was offered the role of Joseph in the west end, the Biblical story of Joseph and his 11 brothers now the longest-running musical in the world.

"It's all come full circle for me," says the 37 year-old. "Growing up in Wales, there wasn't a lot for kids to do and my mum sent me to am-dram.

"And the very first role I appeared in was Joseph."

He then spent his teenage years with Spotlight Theatre Company. Before joining Steps, he worked as redcoat for Butlins holiday parks and spent a brief period in the marines.

H has had great success reinventing himself in showbiz. he has starred in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang playing the iconic role of The

Childcatcher. In the summer of 2007 he performed in the West End version of Fame. And he has become a panto favourite.

But he admits it was difficult to come to terms with the new mindset.

"When you're in a pop band you spend all your time being known for that. Then, when you leave you want to disassociate yourself from it and you want to be known as an actor.

"But at the same time you're aware you're being employed because you have been in a pop band.

"I did try and go against the grain and deny where I came from. But you can't. So I've just embraced it. And my surname will always be Steps."

Many members of pop bands leave with relatively little, despite awesome record sales.

Did H & co come out of the experience with a few bob?

"Yes, I've heard the horror stories, and even bands who were our peers have been shafted," he offers. "But luckily, we had a great management team with us so we did really well."

So the split with Steps wasn't about money. Why then did it come about?

"The usual reasons," he says, with a shrug. "Basically, we were all tired, sick of the sight of each other, and there was a lack of communication. All the reasons why a marriage breaks down.

"With hindsight, if we could have gone back and talked about it . . . but that's just what happens. Now, it's all water under the bridge."

He adds; "When you're in a group there is so much pressure on you from the record company.

"I found an old schedule of ours, recently. And they had us flying to Japan, then back to London and then off to China. We were literally getting changed in the toilets of aeroplanes before making appearances.

"We were in such a bubble, and half the time we didn't even know which country we were in."

Was it a case of taking the frustration out on the person next to you?

"It's not even that. You either cope or you don't. And when you don't cope you leave. But then when you leave you feel lost because that's all you actually know."

He and Claire from Steps formed a duo, but it didn't work out. Then the group reformed, prompted by a Sky TV documentary and thoughts of a national tour boosting the retirement fund.

When they regrouped for the Sky TV series, in that first reunion since they split they looked like hostages.

When the group spoke about why H and Claire announced to the rest they were leaving, Lee looked like he was about to kill H while the girls' tears seriously damaged mascara.

Now however, they have all moved on. And H, who came out as gay in 2007 when he appeared on Celebrity Big Brother, is locked into musical theatre. But he acknowledges how demanding it is.

"We have to do it seven or eight times a week, have to go to the gym and watch what we eat.

"It's the opposite from being a pop star. In the pop world, you talk about performing a lot without actually doing much of it.

"But when you're an actor, especially in musical theatre, you do an awful lot of it."

And he had fame in it's place. It doesn't matter that in 2003 he was voted number 8 on a Channel 4 poll of 100 Worst Britons We Love to Hate.

He loves his life.

"I am a planner but I'm not as ambitious as I used to be. I live in the country and I wake up to my chickens and ducks. And when I return from a show I go back to my partner and we have a lovely life.

"Yes, we'd like to have kids at some point (they have attempted using a surrogate) and we'll keep on looking at the options.

"It's about quality of life, not about going from one job to the next."

He adds, laughing; "I was so lucky to have done so much before I was 25."

"So it's been downhill from there, really."