Our Lee's coming home for Christmas and then jetting to LA (From Echo)

Our Lee's coming home for Christmas and then jetting to LA

11:20pm Wednesday 24th December 2008 in

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WHERE do you go to recover from a year and half on the West End stage starring in a sell-out show? Southend of course.

Home is where the heart is for Joseph star Lee Mead and the first thing he is planning to do after hanging up his mulitcoloured cloak is head to south Essex.

“I am coming home and spending time in Southend,” he declares. “I can’t wait. I haven’t been able to spend much time at home, so I am really looking forward to catching up with people.”

His return mirrors, somewhat, the hit stage show. He comes home as something of a prodigal son, having wowed not only the judges and the public on any Dream Will Do, but also the critics once the show opened.

“It will be great to come home and see everyone, as I only have a day off over Christmas,” says the former Eastwood School pupil.

“After that I am hoping to go to LA. My girlfriend has a house there and has promised to show me around!”

That girlfriend, of course, is none other than Basildon babe Denise Van Outen. The couple met as Denise hosted Any Dream and joked about their Essex roots. They began dating once the show had ended.

With both still having family locally, south Essex is a frequent destination for the pair, who recently moved in together.

“Things are going OK thanks,” Lee says and laughs shyly when asked about the co-habitation. “We are very happy. We both try to get back to Essex when we can, but it is not always easy because of work.”

Almost two years on from when he first appeared in the reality show to select a leading man for the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, Lee hands his loin cloth to former Pop Idol star Gareth Gates on January 10.

“I am pleased Gareth is taking over,” says Lee. “Having been with the show for so long you feel a sense of ownership, but it is definitely going to good hands.”

Lee, 27, himself followed in the footsteps of Jason Donovan, Philip Schofield and Donny Osmond to take the title role in the show’s comeback, so he understands the pressure. It was seeing the touring production of the show at the Cliffs Pavilion, in Westcliff, as a youngster that sparked his acting ambition.

Lee says: “I think whoever plays the part for whatever period feels like it is their baby for that time and you want it to go to a good home. Gareth is a great guy and my advice to him was to have a great time and enjoy it.”

So what does the future hold for Southend’s very own superstar?

Even before taking the final curtain call for Joseph, Lee has been busy in the studio recording the follow-up to his first album released last year.

His self-titled collection of cover versions and new songs, including a track penned for him by Take That’s Gary Barlow, went double gold.

“I am really excited about it,” Lee enthuses. “I am working with some great people and some really top writers who have worked with people like Will Young.”

Lee has also put pen to paper to co-write some of tracks and it has “has been a great learning experience”.

While recording the album, Lee has once again put in 18-hour days, spending seven hours in the studio before going on to perform on stage each night and then returning home to practise.

“It was a lot of hard work and pressure recording, but it’s been very exciting,” he says. “I feel very lucky to have a record deal and I’m very proud of the album.

“It’s nice to show another side to me. Doing Joseph and being a leading man is amazing, but it’s also nice to be a recording artist. It would be fantastic if it does as well as the first album.”

The new album is scheduled for release in March, great news for Lee’s legion of loyal fans and his next comment is bound to send those waves of hysteria even higher.

“My dream is to come back to Southend and do a concert,” he reveals. “I would love to do that as way of saying thank you to everyone who has been so supportive”

With a new album on the cards, a celebrity girlfriend at home and top secret discussions on a new stage role in hand, it’s all a far cry from Lee’s childhood in Southend where he was brought up by his postman dad and mum, a cleaner.

But despite the fame, money and glamour, one thing hasn’t changed. Family is all to Lee. He says: “I’m so close to my mum, my dad and my younger brother. I try to see them as often as I can. I feel so blessed with what has happened. I did work hard to achieve it, but I still feel very lucky to able to doing what I do.”