Born to entertain

HE MAY have no qualms about appearing without a stitch on him on national television.

But talking about getting together with his second wife, Maria, makes Keith Chegwin blush.

It could be a trick of the light but the famous hamster cheeks definitely seem to have taken on a delicate rosy hue.

Keith's chomping his way through not one, but two egg McMuffins (not simultaneously) before daily rehearsals begin for the pantomime Mother Goose at The Anvil, Basingstoke.

In between large bites he says he's thrilled at the prospect of a stint of 'He's behind youuuuu!!!', chattering excitedly about "pure escapism" as a small blob of egg flies from his mouth across the table.

But the current image of Keith imprinted on many a memory is the sight of the actor, stand-up comic and TV presenter appearing naked as the day he was born on the Channel 5 gameshow Naked Jungle.

Viewers certainly spluttered into their cocoa when the late-night programme went out last year.

They called into the TV station by the dozen, some in anger, some in praise.

One woman even rang to thank the show for snapping her out of her post-natal depression as Naked Jungle had made her laugh for the first time in months.

That bastion of middle England The Daily Mail, however, gave the programme a thorough savaging which, surprisingly, Chegwin doesn't seem to mind.

"That's their opinion. It's

amazing that everyone else thought they were wrong. The programme went out at 11pm on Tuesday

night, so you really had to stay

up to watch it. Yet there was the Daily Mail putting it on the

table so everyone could see it.

"The Daily Mail had a page article praising Jerry Hall for appearing on stage naked. They didn't knock Billy Connolly when he appeared naked on Comic Relief - which was prime time viewing and ours was not.

"Everybody's doing it. I don't regret it, it's my decision. Anyway who cares?"

Doesn't he feel he's been given a rough ride in the media?

"No never. It's all honest. The press has been fantastic. We're all desperate for it on the way up and don't want it when we are there.

"Every newspaper, every magazine, every TV company has Keith Chegwin's own phone number. It's far easier to talk to the press than to have some spokesman doing it for you."

Chegwin is best known for wearing dubious stripy jumpers, the Multi-Coloured Swap Shop,

wedding co-host Maggie Philbin and, of course, his drinking, which dominated the breakdown of their marriage.

He also fronted Cheggers Plays Pop, that oh-so irresistible combination of a music quiz with some bouncing around on large inflatable objects thrown in for good measure.

The 1980s was the heyday of children's television - when Chegwin's throaty laugh of boyish glee would regularly echo around homes across the land.

"Children's TV made people ask questions or read a book. Now it's either cartoons or talking down to kids. It's like wallpaper really.

"Our brief for Swap Shop was that it was a light entertainment show that the kids might get. Now it's a bobble hat and a short skirt presenting a show.

"I went through a bad patch drinking but I never stopped working. The papers misquoted me and made up their own stories. I've always had money, I've never had any problem with that. I didn't mug anyone, I didn't run anyone over, I just got pissed.

"I was a fall-down drunk. I didn't cause anyone any problem I just didn't move out of the hotel for a week."

Chegwin says he doesn't know why he drank, then adds: "Yes, I do. I got on a hamster wheel and couldn't get off. I had a counsellor telling me it was because of show business. But I'm just an addictive personality. I just do everything a lot. I shop so I shop a lot. I smoke so I smoke a lot. I just do everything a lot.

"But now I'm nine years down the line - yet not one newspaper has said 'well done'. I can't forget about it because that would be a silly mistake for me to make."

During this period Chegwin and Philbin enjoyed a lavish lifestyle.

They had a housekeeper, nanny, groom, chauffeur, all of which he now brands "quite ridiculous".

"It was not me. I was not Lord of the Manor. I live a much easier existence now near Newbury."

Chegwin and Philbin no longer see each other - "You just naturally drift apart" - although he regularly sees Rose, his daughter from the marriage.

He's also lost touch with Swap Shop host Noel Edmonds, explaining: "It's a long time ago."

Chegwin's urge to entertain was there right from the start.

Growing up in Bootle with DJ sister Janice Long, he was a classroom joker.

"I always wanted to be Des O'Connor. I still do, I think he's fantastic.

"Janice is my ally now. We really are a team, we're never off the phone. We have golden rules. We don't talk about work which is brilliant.

"At one stage it was 'I've met so-and-so' or 'I've done this'. But we've stopped all that now and we just talk about us."

His second wife Maria - with whom he has a three-year-old son called Ted - was once Chegwin and Philbin's groom.

"Five years down the line after I had split from Maggie she phoned up. Maria had been away but had heard about the drinking.

"She phoned again and things built up. I've never met anyone so pro me. It's odd really.

"My wife is fantastic and doesn't allow

anyone into my home. We've had offers from Hello, OK, Homes and Gardens and Pig Breeders' Weekly.

"Maria's Miss Tesco, she's not interested in TV. Our home is our home and its not open for people to come and film. "Louis Theroux had the opportunity to film Keith Chegwin. But I didn't want him in my house for 15 days."

This is a deeply private man.

And behind all the energetic chatter, you're left with the impression that the blushing incident was about the closest you got to the person underneath.

You can't help wondering what would happen if Chegwin were to be locked in an empty room on his own for a week.

One suspects all that nervous energy would make him bounce off the walls.

He's an insomniac - only managing to get around three hours sleep a night.

He's addicted to entertaining people - it's his lifeblood.

Take that away from him and you suspect he would wither.

* Mother Goose runs at the Anvil Theatre Basingstoke until January 6.