Lock up your sons, as the master of the double-entendre is cruising into Poole on Thursday evening.

Comedian and last year’s Celebrity Big Brother winner Julian Clary will be bringing his latest show Position Vacant: Apply Within to the Lighthouse Poole.

The premise for the show is as unusual and flamboyant as the 53-year-old himself. The show is dedicated to finding him a husband and Julian will be scouring the audience in search of love.

“It’s an anarchic show and I go into the audience with a cattle prod. I pick a selection of men and put them in a cattle-pen on stage. Then I put them through a number of rigorous elimination rounds. At the end of the show I marry one of them with a ‘bishop’ and confetti. It’s all very touching,” says Julian.

He says that the conceit of competing to marry him “Never fails. It is ever such a good comic device. Once the selection process is over, there’s a palpable sense of relief and the audience settles back and watches what’s going on. I think they quite secretly enjoy it by the end.”

It turns out that the inspiration behind Position Vacant, Apply Within, stems from real events based in Julian’s personal life.

"When I first dreamt up the idea for the show, my partner had gone to LA and I didn’t think he was coming back. Initially he went for six months, but he ended up staying 18 months. So I thought, ‘I’ll show you!’ He’s back now, of course, but the idea of looking for love remains.”

Given the recent headlines about gay marriage, the show is also very topical.

“That has given it an extra boost,” Julian confirms.

“We also finish with a song, ‘Cool To Be Queer’ which you can see now on YouTube. It’s a serious song about gay marriage and persecution around the world. Is it political? “Everything is political. I dared myself to do it, and I’m very glad I did it. It’s nice getting a different reaction. People told me they find it very moving. It’s given them something different to think about on the way home.”

Julian has a wonderful rapport with his fans, many of whom have been following him for the last 30 years. His standing has only been enhanced by his victory in Celebrity Big Brother last year and his turn on Strictly Come Dancing. ITV have also lined Julian up to host a prime time Saturday night show to be announced this summer.

The comedian has also even developed a second career as a bestselling novelist.

“It is an addictive thing. Getting a laugh is very good for my soul and for my ego. I genuinely look forward to it after nine months at home writing a book. I could never just write books. I need to go out and feel the love.”

But perhaps the biggest draw for coming to see Julian in action on Thursday night, would be his spectacular penchant for innuendo. Julian has built his career on the brilliant use of camp comedy and he considers why we Brits love it so much.

“Camp comedy is a way of trivialising life – and I’m all for that. It has also always worked really well for me. Does Shirley Bassey ever get fed up with singing Diamonds Are Forever? Of course not. It’s who she is. She’s not suddenly going to become a folk singer with a beard and a finger in her ear.

“There’s a great British tradition of innuendo. The English language lends itself to playing with words and double entendre. That’s specific to English.”

However, Julian adds, “Innuendo can sometimes be a problem. If I call BT because my phone is not working, they expect innuendo from me when I’m actually in quite a bad mood. The other day an operator said to me, ‘I can’t say, ‘I'm putting you on hold’ without thinking of innuendo.’

“But it’s a way of life for me now. Even on my gravestone there’ll be innuendo: ‘At last, a hole that fits!’”