Mention the name Paul Nicholas to any woman over the age of 30 and she will shift in her seat, smile wistfully and sigh.

Just Good Friends was the vessel that made him a full-blown 80s heart-throb, when Vince's cheeky lop-sided grin and blond curls were as good as it got.

Now firmly entrenched in the world of musicals, not only has Paul starred and sung in all the best and biggest shows, but he's directing and producing them himself. You name it and he's been in it - from Cats to Fiddler On The Roof, Rocky Horror to Saturday Night Fever.

Now he is about to hit Oxford's New Theatre in his latest showcase 42nd Street.

Next up is the latest reality TV show searching for the two lead roles in Grease, the winners joining his cast in the West End this summer.

I caught up with Paul on his way up North on the current 42nd Street tour and was delighted to find that he's as much of a charmer as ever. He's looking forward to coming to Oxford because he loves the city and with six children he likes to be within commuting distance of his North London home and wife Lindsay.

"We all had lunch together on Sunday to say goodbye to my youngest daughter, who is now 20 and about to disappear off to Australia, and one of my daughters looked around and said, 'God you have been busy,' because there were my six kids and eight grandchildren there. I'm not so proud of myself, but I am proud of them," Paul explains.

So does he feel that he's sacrificed much pursuing his stage career? "No, I go out with the cast when I want too, which is fun. They always look rather surprised when I'm still there at 3am, but you have to be careful when you have a show the next day.

"But then neither could I sit around doing nothing at home. For me it's about work and the peripheries of work, and my kids and their wellbeing. I'm not interested in anything else."

Having to provide for such a large family must have put pressure on his work schedule though? "That's one of the reasons I got into producing and directing. We started the company 10 years ago which has grown hugely and is now producing Grease on Broadway as well as the reality show."

Paul's career actually kicked off with pop, right, progressed into musicals, films, TV and then back to musicals again.

But what about Just Good Friends, above, does he look back on it as the golden era?

"When I read the script I knew it was like gold dust and would suit me totally," he says. The legions of female fans must have helped?

"The women who wait for me at the stage door these days are very nice and kind but most of them need to be helped down the steps," he laughs.

So how old are you, I ask? "Never you mind," he chuckles. "But I'm still as keen as ever." So are we.