What Jamie likes best

If you want to know who is responsible for TV celebrity Jamie Theakston appearing in a West End production of a Somerset Maugham play, then look no further than former Tory MP Giles Brandreth. A few years ago, the intrepid beard was backstage at TOTP interviewing Theakston, who muttered something about always having wanted to be an actor; Brandreth suggested he should do Art. On reading the interview, the Art producer rang Theakston and, to cut a long story short, he appeared in the play, decided he really is as good at acting as he'd thought when he was 14, and sat back to wait for the right script - which has turned up in the unlikely shape of a farce unperformed in London for more than 40 years. Hey presto: Jamie has a new career.

Which brings us to Home And Beauty. In the play, a woman finds herself with two husbands at the end of World War I ( played by Theakston and Alexander Armstrong - one half of comedy duo Armstrong & Miller). This unlikely casting is offset by the choice of Victoria Hamilton, one of the country's finest young actresses, in the lead role. It's not what most people would have expected Jamie to do next, but he's surprised at our surprise. 'I've wanted to be an actor ever since joining the National Youth Theatre,' he says. 'When I did Art I discovered what it was I'd missed.'

Actually, Theakston's CV, from his first job presenting Live And Kicking to fronting the BBC Jubilee pop concert this summer, reads like a wish list of the things Jamie likes best. Which means some jobs can look a bit unlikely. Some people, for example, were surprised when Theakston took up fronting a cricket show for Radio 5: 'I've always loved cricket,' he says. 'Why on earth wouldn't I want to have my own cricket show?'

Theakston has had a bit of a year of it, what with that business with the brothel and the ongoing speculation over his relationship with Joely Richardson. It's easy to assume he would be wary of the press. But no - he's as eager and as friendly as you could wish, bouncing about despite being 6ft 5in, offering cigarettes and batting away questions such as: 'Aren't you worried that your acting abilities will be compared with Hamilton's?' (For the record, he isn't worried about unfavourable comparisons - simply delighted to be working with her.) He's enthusiastic about the play - 'It's hysterically funny. Maugham is one of the great comic writers' - and is clearly enjoying himself immensely.

Theakston hasn't thought any further about acting - that is, he is careful to point out that he hasn't given up TV; his commitments are simply on hold until March. He compares the adrenalin of theatre with that of a live studio, and says that presenting is itself a form of acting: 'Anyone who says you should simply be yourself on TV has got it wrong. Because what if you are crap? That means you as a person are crap.' Where TV and the stage differ is when the curtain goes up, he suggests. 'That moment when you become aware that there are hundreds of people out there is quite unique.'

He doesn't know if Home And Beauty will change his relationship with the tabloid press - there were rumours that the decision was partly inspired by the wish to put the brothel business behind him and grow up a bit, professionally speaking. He admits to a love/hate relationship with them, and earlier this year he became an unwitting pawn in a wider story about privacy. 'It's a double-edged sword. I've never appeared in OK! magazine, or talked about who I'm going out with, because I maintain that if you parade your private life then you are fair game. But I try not to bother about the press. I will point out, though, that they usually say good things about my work.'

He is hoping that will continue. But he doesn't care too much. He's doing Home And Beauty because he believes in it. And in that sense, it's simply no different from anything he has ever done.

Tonight until Mar 1, Lyric Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue W1, tonight 7pm, otherwise Mon to Sat 8pm, Wed mats 3pm, Sat mats 4pm, £12.50 to £37.50 (tonight limited availability).

Tel: 0870 890 1107. Tube: Piccadilly Circus