AS a youngster Tom Chambers used to leap off barns and land in grass cutting like a Derbyshire Indiana Jones as he tried to be “an all action Hollywood Hero”.

But now grown up, he has moved on from being an adventure hero would describe himself very much as ‘a song and dance man’.

And in some respects even though he is an actor whom many have seen in Holby City and Waterloo Road, his appearance on Strictly Come Dancing, gives you more of an indication of his true love - dance.

For Tom, dance, has been a constant thread throughout his life since he was five years old.

Tom believes his love of dance came from watching Tom & Jerry cartoons and by listening to the music used in them some of which was written by George Gershwin.

He believes it was this subliminal element in the cartoons which first sowed the seeds for his love of dance.

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Explaining how this all happened, Tom said: “Dance was the first thing I saw and I was stamping on the kitchen floor when I was five/six years old, before I even knew about tap dancing.

"I think I was trying to be like Fred Astaire or Gene Kelly, I was swept along by it all.

“I was fascinated by Fred Astaire, when he was doing dances where he was dancing and kicking drums.

"I think I became aware of music from watching the Tom and Jerry cartoons.

“I have only just realised it as it must have been subliminal as the music used in the Tom and Jerry cartoons was written by George Gershwin as was the same music to which Fred Astaire danced to in his musicals.

"As a dancer I have always enjoyed leaping around lamp posts or dancing with chairs.

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"I am always on the dance floor at weddings. I have never wanted to be a professional dancer as it would have taken too much discipline and I would rather do it for the fun of it.

“As a kid I wanted to be more of an action hero like Indiana Jones leaping off barns into grass cuttings or I wanted to be like Gene Kelly when he was a pilot in a film.”

These are other stories will be revealed when Tom comes to The Princess Theatre in Burnhamon- Sea.

He will be in town for An Evening of Conversation with Tom Chambers at 7.30pm on Friday, June 9.

One of the questions Tom could be asked is how did he get into acting. Well, the answer he would give would be by accident.

It began when he was at school and was playing football during break time. One of the teachers told him as no one had auditioned for the play he had to attend an audition at 3pm.

He said: “I went along and found myself in the play Dracula Spectacular. I had a line with went ‘You either ‘ave it or you don’t ‘ave it and I do ‘ave it.’ I loved it and got the bug for it.

“I did not realised it would take 20 more years to get my big break.”

To try and make his break through, Tom, wrote to the Royal Variety Show to see if he put together an act where he tap danced and at the same time kicked a drum and asked if they would give him a slot.

They told him yes they would put him in. He worked on the routine for nine months and spent 5,000 hours perfecting the routine.

And then three weeks before the show they rang him up and told him the show was full.

He said: “I did not know what to do so I ask if I could use a space at my old school where I could film it. I then sent out 1,000 copies to different people and got two replies.

“It was from this I got called to an audition for Holby City (in which he played Samuel Noel “Sam” Strachan ).

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"This lead to my big break. Before this my friends and even my family were telling me to give up and leave it (acting) go.

“I think I must have a bit of OCD about me as I just kept going and trying to make it happen.

“I had walked into Clapham Fire Station and had left with the forms to apply to become a fireman. It is really bizarre how these things happen and the timing.

“As a result of this call I got my role on Holby City for the next three years.”

Tickets cost £20 for standard and £18 concessions.

Further details online at princesstheatreandartscentre.co.uk or call 01278 784464.