Few are held as dear to our hearts as our first pop star crush. And if any girl old enough to remember Scott and Charlene's wedding tells you theirs wasn't on Jason Donovan, then they are lying.

The former Neighbours heartthrob has moved on these days, and he has had an eventful past 12 months, conquering reality TV, releasing an album and embarking on a 21-date tour.

Not that life has ever been quiet, he says.

After Neighbours, Jason became an Eighties pop star, selling more than 13 million records while in his early 20s.

When that career ended, he took the lead in Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, at the Palladium in 1991, following this with his role as Frank 'N' Furter in The Rocky Horror UK tour in 1998.

He also went through a highly-publicised battle with drugs, then appeared to disappear from public life, before re-emerging via his stint on ITV's reality show, I'm A Celebrity? Get Me Out Of Here.

Now he is ready to start the All The Hits And More Tour and launching a quest for the best mullet in town.

"I'm sort of apprehensive but at the same time I'm not going to get myself worked up about it - no one's going to die, " jokes an up-beat Jason.

"I aim to have a lot of fun, play some new songs, some old songs and encourage people to reminisce."

This easy-going, fair dinkum attitude took Jason to the final three of I'm A Celebrity.

Jaded fans from the Eighties, who hadn't taken kindly to his drug problems, were heartened to see a happier, healthier Jason fighting a helmet full of creepy crawlies with a glint in his eye.

This time round, fame is a different story.

"It's a very different revival. It's not as intense as it was, " he says.

"Also I'm not 25; I have two kids and it's very different.

"I think I'm having more fun this time round in a reminiscing sort of sense. I hope to do more than just reminisce though; I hope to create a new story.

"I found fame through the passion of what I did, not by the front cover of OK magazine and it made me really enjoy my craft.

"There's no handbook for fame, you have to work it out for yourself, but I feel I don't know any different to it's hard to be hypothetical about something that's been part of my life.

"One thing I will tell you is my journey has been my journey. There have been some moments I'm not particularly proud of, but I don't regret anything in my life."

Many of his Neighbours fans have stayed loyal, he says. The music and the success of the show were a potent mixture, and it's hard to lose such a faithful audience.

Not that he would want to, he adds. He is proud of what he achieved in Neighbours.

Jason grew up in a family that was never out of the public eye. His father is Australian actor Terence Donovan, his mother is former actress and newsreader Sue McIntosh and his half-sister is Neighbours star Stephanie McIntosh. So it was odds on he would strive for the limelight.

Now, at 38, he had TV, stage, film and recording work under his belt.

"I think to be honest it's all pretty good, " he said. "I enjoy it all. The great thing about doing your own concert is there is a very small audience and you have your own story and you're not working for somebody else.

"Musicals can be very rewarding and very well-crafted pieces of work and I've done film too which is great too.

"I'm very lucky in that respect."

At the moment though, he's focusing on one thing at a time.

There is an autobiography in the pipeline, and he would do another musical, if the right one came along.

For now, however, concentrating on his tour.

"There will be some of the old ones; Too Many Broken Hearts and Especially For You might make an appearance, " he says.

"But be prepared to grow your hair at the back and short on the top - I'm aiming to find the best mullet."

Jason Donovan, All The Hits and More Tour, Wednesday, Grand Opera House, York, 7.30pm. Box Office 0870 606 3595