A VISIT to Poole’s Lighthouse to track down the stars of Dick Whittington and His Cat – which opens tonight – found me wading through performers from all points of the entertainment spectrum.

In the theatre I encountered men in stockings, corsets, high heels and wigs.

They weren’t panto dames though – but members of an all-male Shakespearean company rehearsing for The Merchant of Venice.

There was no sign of panto stars Jack Ryder and Adele Silva in the concert hall either, where BSO musicians were rehearsing for their evening concert. I finally found them in the performance studio where Jack – best known for his five years as Jamie in EastEnders – and Adele, who played Kelly in Emmerdale, found time to chat.

Adele, of course, knows all about working under pressure, having survived life in Hell’s Kitchen with fiery TV chef Marco Pierre White.

Until then, most viewers knew her as nasty soap character Kelly... but I couldn’t have met a sweeter person.

“I liked the idea of doing this panto,” she told me. “It’s quite short – some can run right into February, which is far too long. So it means I will be free for a possible role in a British film in January.”

Despite being famously reticent about his personal life, Jack, 27 – who split from HearSay singer turned Coronation Street actress wife Kym Marsh in March – was remarkably open about his views on fame.

And he revealed his plans to turn his back on showbiz for a while when the panto completes its run on January 4.

This is Jack’s third panto and comes at the end of a particularly gruelling year.

“Doing panto is completely different to anything I’ve ever done before,” he said. “This production is very much about audience participation. Playing Jack, there is no in-depth character study – it’s like a school play with goodies and baddies. Usually when I go to work in a theatre it’s like a job and all very businesslike.

“I’ve just spent four months playing Romeo in a tour of Romeo and Juliet. This is all very camp by comparison, but you have to get the comedy and timing right and the dance routines.”

Jack, who was just 16 when plucked from obscurity to play Jamie in EastEnders in 1998, was looking forward to having no work commitments in the New Year.

“I’ve been working solidly all year and I plan to take a few months off and fly around the world with a friend.

The year has been a taxing one – both professionally and in his personal life. After appearing in the UK tour of Safari Party he then starred alongside Nigel Havers and Diana Quick in the tour of Alan Bennett’s comedy Single Spies. From there he tackled Shakespeare for the first time as Romeo and then went straight into panto rehearsals – while also completing a three-month run in Radio 4’s The Archers.

Meanwhile, his marriage collapsed, the couple announcing that they had split amicably in March.

But Jack is happy to leave the high-profile goldfish bowl existence behind him.

“I’ve done all that and the OK magazine spreads. Now acting is just my job,” he told me. “I’d never go near a reality TV series. That’s just a personal preference – I don’t want to be seen as me.

“There are shows where the reality stars learn a craft and people respect that, but the jungle and Big Brother is not the place for actors.

“Some people go into it just for the experience but I couldn’t do it. Acting is my job and that’s how I treat it. I say I’m just going to work. It’s not me people see.”

Since I met Jack, Kym Marsh has announced that she and new fiancé, Hollyoaks actor Jamie Lomas, are expecting a baby after a whirlwind six-month relationship.

Life has clearly moved on for them both.