Lee Mead is looking a little tired.

It's hardly surprising. He's currently doing eight performances of Joseph a week, extra rehearsals on top of that, a constant round of television appearances and publicity for the show, and he's still managed to get up early and come back to his home turf to support a friend.

You certainly can't accuse the 26-year-old of letting his new found fame go to his head.

He could only find an hour to spare at the end of a long week, and he was more than willing to spend that time at Mushroom Theatre Company in Hullbridge, watching the children perform and happily smiling and posing for an endless stream of excited youngsters capturing the moment on their mobile phone cameras.

The company is run by Penni Bubb, Lee's first ever dance teacher and they've remained firm friends ever since. He'll be back in Essex in November to do a similar favour for his old singing teacher Margaret Cozens. This time he'll be performing a guest spot with Margaret's daughter Vanessa and her singing group Trillogy at the New Empire Theatre, Southend.

You get the impression that Lee would do a favour for anyone, but since he won BBC reality show Any Dream Will Do the requests have been coming in thick and fast and he's having to learn to say no pretty quickly.

Requests from old friends however, will always get priority.

"It's my homeground," says Lee affectionately. "I'm very close to my family and I come back whenever I can."

Although understandably that hasn't been a lot lately.

"I've been so busy, but I can't complain though, it's wonderful. It's just taking time to adjust."

Rises to fame don't come much more dramatic. Lee might not have been the reality show contestant that was plucked from a supermarket checkout and turned into a stage star, but even his previous theatre work as an understudy in the West End, couldn't have prepared him for the super speed at which he was hurtled into the public conscience.

Within a week of completing the show he was at number two in the charts with charity single Any Dream Will Do, a few weeks later and he was stood on stage at Wembley alongside Donny Osmond and Jason Donovan performing in front of 60,000 people and a global television audience of millions at the Concert For Diana.

That was before the curtain had even risen on the show he'd won the lead role in.

Two months down the line and with the show now up and running - following a host of rave first night reviews, you'd think things would have calmed down a bit. They haven't.

Lee is in demand as much as ever. After we meet he has to rush off to London to do a public appearance in Covent Garden, before that night's show.

"Things are great, but It's absolutely crazy busy," smiles Lee.

It looks set to get busier too, with talk of a solo album release in the near future. It's a workload that could easily have turned him into a jibbering wreck or a demanding diva, but he's as far as you can get from either.

"It has been quite surreal, everything that's happened to me," he says. " But the reason I feel that I've dealt with it so well is that I love what I do and I'm just a normal guy."

A normal guy that has his own web-based appreciation society following his every move. A site that encourages its visitors to vote for him to be crowned Rear of the Year. In fact Lee's female followers are such a force to be reckoned with they've been nicknamed Loppies (Lee obsessed people) and Meadies.

"It's quite funny and very flattering," says Lee, who has been dating girlfriend Kerry since they met in a tour of Joseph three years ago. "More than anything, the support I've had has been amazing."

He admits it's a far cry from how things were during his first stint in Joseph. "I couldn't get an interview with anyone then," he smiles as he looks around at the gathered scrum that his every move now attracts.

Lee is based in London at the moment, but insists his heart remains in Essex.

"I bought a flat in Rayleigh last year but since everything's happened I haven't had a chance to live there. Certainly for the moment I need to be based in London. It will be nice to come back one day."

Whether it's a flying visit or a permanent move, Lee is certain of a welcome return.