Lee Mead is wowing crowds in Chicago at Norwich Theatre Royal this week and he plans to make the most of his time in Norfolk.

He shot to fame after winning BBC talent show Any Dream Will Do in 2007 and he bagged the title role in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat in the West End.

While he had worked professionally before, including as brother Levi and the Pharaoh in Joseph in a tour that came to Norwich, the TV show catapulted him into the limelight.

He said: "We sold out for more than a year-and-a-half and it was like being a rock star - I got cards and gifts most nights."

It led to roles in TV, including as Lofty in Holby City and Casualty, and in theatre shows such as Wicked and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

He now stars as lawyer Billy Flynn in Chicago, which is set in the 1920s, and he helps housewife and nightclub dancer Roxie Hart (Coronation Street's Faye Brookes) turn the murder of her on-the-side lover into a barrage of sensational headlines.

Mead said: "I'm so excited, I saw it in my hometown of Southend when I was 13 and thought one day it would be fun to do as an amateur production, never thinking I would do it professionally.

"This is the most fun I've had doing a show and it has a 12-piece band with a huge brass section."

The 40-year-old is a big fan of Norfolk and recently came to the county on a holiday with daughter Betsy, who he co-parents with former partner Denise Van Outen.

Mead added: "We went to Cromer and then Great Yarmouth as I have just started doing cold water swims which have changed my life.

"This week I am planning to drive to Great Yarmouth a couple of times to swim and I want to take Betsy back this summer if I am not working - I am really fond of the area."

Fifteen years on from his win on Any Dream Will Do, Mead shows no sign of slowing down with plans for a new album and he is in the running for two big musicals.

Chicago runs at Norwich Theatre Royal until Saturday.