'Like living a dream'-Peter Andre on bringing Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons show to Blackpool tonight

Singer, songwriter and actor Peter Andre is currently starring in the UK wide tour of The Very Best of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons.

The show arrives at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool on February 26 and ahead of his Lancashire trip, the 52-year-old star sat down for a chat with our celebrity reporter.

Read on to see what Peter had to say about the show, his love for Blackpool and whether you can expect to see him performing in his 80s!

How are you feeling about coming to Blackpool with The Very Best of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons?

“Great. The show has been amazing. Just so people understand, this show has been going on for years. And the singers on there, the performers, are West End performers, they're very, very, very good. And I joined this last year for a couple of months, and it was only meant to be a one off, and then they said, would you come back and do it again? And I said, ‘well, if it comes back by popular demand, then I'll do it’. And they rang me and said ‘it's back by popular demand. Will you do it?’ and I'm like ‘well, yeah, let's do it one more time’. So you know, it might be the last time for a while that I do this show but honestly, it is so fun, and it is just - the musicians, the singers, the performers, the show, the songs - it's just fantastic. It's a must see!”

Why is it a show that you wanted to get involved in at all?

“Well, when they first approached me, I was a little bit unsure because I didn't think I knew enough Frankie Valli songs… I remember them going ‘no, you do’ and I went ‘what do you mean?’ and they said ‘you do, trust me’. And so then, literally, they sent me the set list, and I was like ‘Oh, I had no idea Frankie Valli sung that and that and that’. As a kid, growing up on the Gold Coast, one of the things was that on the beaches, they used to have speakers, and they used to play the radio... and a lot of times, I thought all my life, a lot of those songs were Beach Boys songs, and some of them were but I've now realized a lot of those songs in my childhood were Frankie Valli songs. And so I was like ‘oh, my God, this is just going to be like me being able to be on stage singing songs that are embedded into my childhood’. So that's the reason, really and plus, it's so high energy.”

Can you describe the show for audiences who have no idea what it's going to be like?

“So the Jersey Boys in the West End in London, that's a lot of acting and singing. There's no acting in this but it is narrated. So we do explain the story all the way throughout the show, and how the guys formed and their rivalry with the Beach Boys, and how he was signed to Motown. So we get to do a cheeky little Motown section as well, but it is just hit after hit after hit. I'm telling you, anyone that comes to it walks out going ‘okay, I didn't expect it to be like that’ and that's what's really nice. The other thing that we get a lot is ‘I never knew Pete could sing those kind of high songs’ and that's because a lot of times in the songs that I've released, you know, they've been quite poppy, but actually where my strength is is the falsetto, and that's where I sing a lot in this show. So it's really good, really good fun.”

So for younger audiences who perhaps don't think they know any Frankie Valli songs, are you saying they will still very much enjoy the show?

“They will… a lot of times in the audiences, we have different ages. We have anyone from five to 95 and it's really interesting, because the younger ones, I'm like ‘how do they know all these songs?’ But it's probably because their parents play them or the other versions of these songs. You know, for example, ‘Grease’- that's in the film Grease, that was written by the Bee Gees, but it was sung by Frankie Valli but I didn't even know that for a long time. And, you know ‘Begging’ has been redone. It was redone in 2010 or 2015 and there's another version of it with a rap in it. And a lot of people know that version, but it's all Frankie Valli songs, and that's where this young generation go ‘oh, my God, I love it.’”

Do you get to wear some fabulous costumes?

“Oh yeah. Oh my gosh, the costumes are, listen, it's the one time I get to wear a lot of glittery coats and I love jackets. I must do one, two -let me just think… probably about 12 costume changes throughout the show. 12! It’s like living a dream. It's brilliant. Honestly, guys come and see it, you won't be disappointed.”

Well, a place that absolutely loves all that glitz and glam is Blackpool. Have you performed in Blackpool before?

“I have!.. I've done my own shows, but least not, of course, Strictly Come Dancing, I did Blackpool, the Tower, which was amazing in itself. But, yeah, Blackpool is great. Of course, it is. I mean, it's part of our childhood as well. Before I moved to Australia, you know, my parents used to take us.”

Do you have any specific memories from when you were a kid in Blackpool?

“Yeah the cane things, the sweets. What is it called? The rock, something rock, yeah, love that. Still love it to this day- bit too much, I need to watch it, but, yeah, it just… you kind of have a vision when you think of Blackpool, you think of the entertainment and the roller coasters, and you think of all of that as a child, and obviously the food. It's a great town, great town.”

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So when you come up this time, will you get up to any of those activities you remember liking as a kid?

“If I've got the kids with me, yes, if I don't, I'll still do some, yeah, but pre show’s sometimes difficult because we have soundcheck, we have meet and greets, sometimes it's the traveling, so we don't really get to enjoy it as much…but, yeah I'm really looking forward to it. I'm really looking forward to it.”

You said you've come to Blackpool before with some of your own shows, have you ever come as part of a production like this?

“I think we did Grease. The West End show Grease, I think we did in Blackpool as well. That was great. Grease is such a fun show, my God and it's kind of full circle for me, because we sung the song grease in the musical Grease, and now we sing Grease in the Frankie Vali show. So very full circle.”

When you perform on stage, how different is it when it's your own tour versus a show like this?

“Well, it's different when it's your own tour, because you have your own lighting designs, you have your own stage designs. It's very different [from] joining a show, but I really love it. I love the fact that I'm able to be a part of it and they're such a good team.”

Can you remember what Blackpool audiences are like?

“Yes, they are always up for a good laugh, and they're always up for a good night and I think that's what's amazing… A lot of times with these shows, right, you're not allowed to stand, so you're not allowed to film in some of these shows, but as you go further north from London, the more north you go, the more you find people break the standing up rule pretty early on in the night. But they're pretty tame until about song four or five, and then it starts to get a little bit louder, and it's great.”

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After the show, could you be tempted to go out on the town in Blackpool?

“I have not really been going out on the town for quite a few years, but maybe I need to just step up and do it again. But I haven't been ‘out out’, you know, in the night life of any city for 10 years now.”

Who knows, maybe the lights will change that!

“I do like it, and it's so funny, because when we drive in, it always reminds me of certain moments of my childhood, and that's what's amazing. To be able to turn up to somewhere and it instantly take you back is pretty awesome.”

Why should the people of Lancashire buy tickets to come see you?

“Because you're telling them to! No, I'm just joking. It's because, honestly, I know - by the response we've had- I know that you will absolutely leave going ‘that was brilliant’- that's why. And so it's one of those things where even if you think you don't know some of the Frankie Valli songs, do not let that deter you- you're gonna. It's a night of nostalgia. Do you know sometimes I look in the crowd and I'll see somebody that's maybe in their 70s or 80s, and you see them just reminiscing and smiling. And you know, there was this one gentleman who wouldn't stand, he was about 80 years old, and we were conscious about people standing around him, and he was there, and he was just listening, and then at one point, when everyone sat down, he just got up and just started dancing and everyone was like, ‘what?!’ He was having his best life and a lot of the comments we get in the reviews is that ‘it was so much better than I thought it was going to be’, and I don't know what they think it's going to be, but it's so much better than that so that's why.”

Frankie Valli obviously has performed well late into his later years, do you hope to be 80 plus, dancing and singing away still?

“I don't know. I want to be 80 plus probably traveling and seeing parts of the world I've never really got to see. Maybe I'd want to come to Blackpool and actually spend the day there, or go to Manchester and actually see Manchester, rather than- because in this industry, you never really see anything. It's just hotel, venue, hotel, venue. But I don't know. Never, say never, never, say never.”

And after the show, are there any future plans you want to mention?

“For those that don't know, my first album in, I think 15 years, you can pre order it now. It's called ‘Legacy’, and what I'm doing is because ‘Mysterious Girl’ is 30 years old this year… I've revisited that song, got my friend Bubbler Ranx from back then to rewrite a whole new rap. We've recreated some of the sounds and we've even brought in someone, a special guest, to appear on it. And I've done that with the three number ones and the nine top five hits, and I've written three new songs. So that album is called ‘Legacy’. You can pre order it right now. You can go on my bio and Instagram if you want any special packages, like vinyl or CD. But also you can pre order it on iTunes, on Amazon, etc. You can stream the song ‘Rock URight’ on Spotify, iTunes, download it, whatever you want, but new stuff's coming, which means a proper tour very soon.”

Other than the Mysterious Girl anniversary, why was now the right time to release a new album after so long?

“Well, because I wanted to do something for ‘Mysterious Girl’, and I thought, I don't want to just redo the song. You know, I'm a songwriter. I've been writing songs since I was 13, and so many times I write for other people, or I've written for a TV show, I've written for a film, but why am I not releasing music? You know, some people may or may not know what I do, and I just enjoy doing it, and I want to tour. That's the reason, I want to tour.”

Why should people in Lancashire buy that album?

“Well, have a listen to ‘Rock U Right’, and you'll see for yourself the kind of vibe that I've gone for. Very nostalgic. I purposely wrote ‘Rock U Right’ as a nod to the music that I loved growing up, so you can hear all the influences of the late 70s and early 80s disco, which is why I wrote it, and that's to launch the album. Plus you're going to hear versions of these songs, still keeping all the original elements in there but there's some special guests on the album, including my friend Kenny Thomas, including Brian McKnight, Montel Jordan, who sang ‘This is how we do it’, he's collaborated with me, Lady Leshurr, and a couple of other surprises I'm not going to tell you until you get the album. But the reason I'd say go and get it is because it will take you back to a time, but it will also keep it fresh for you now, if that makes sense, plus, I need you to learn all the words so that you can come to the show and we're gonna sing it live... I’m just always grateful to have the support and the love and we'll see you soon, hopefully.”