FORMER soap star and one of the early 1990s biggest pop idols is appearing like you’ve never him before in Bristol next week.

Jason Donovan is leading the fabulously over-dressed cast in one of theatre’s most glitzy, glittery shows - Priscilla Queen of the Desert.

Donovan, who will be best remembered for playing teen heartthrob Scott Robinson against Kylie Minogue’s Charlene Mitchell in Australian soap Neighbours, is reprising the role of Tick which he first played when Priscilla opened in London in 2009.

Speaking to the Gazette before the first UK tour of the show arrives at the Bristol Hippodrome next Monday, April 15, he said getting back into shape for the demanding part had been hard work.

“It has been a challenge,” he said. “For me it is a big role and is a lot of hard work. I don’t really leave the stage for the whole show.

“I love it and it’s a great show. But it is exhausting.”

For the 44-year-old dad of three, who has previously starred in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat on the West End, Priscilla, which tells the tale of three Aussie drag queens on an eventful roadtrip to perform in Alice Springs, is the perfect show.

“There are very few chances one gets to marry someone like myself with a show that, in people’s minds, makes sense,” said Donovan.

“It is about a group of misfits, people who don’t quite fit into society.

“It is a very uplifting show, without being Disney-esque and not necessarily being too cheesy.”

Priscilla features 500 of the most fantastical and ridiculous costumes ever designed, some of the biggest fake eye lashes ever to grace the stage, eye-popping high heels and fabulous fishnets.

“My favourite costume is when I finish the show and get to take it all off,” said Donovan, who is not unaccustomed to sequins after coming third in the 2011 series of BBC 1’s Strictly Come Dancing.

Featuring some of disco’s greatest hits including I Will Survive and It’s Raining Men, the show is always well received.

“If the box office sales are anything to go it is absolutely amazing. It’s a show that doesn’t necessarily have the pedigree of Disney or Andrew Lloyd Webber but it does have a very successful film and some great songs.

“It’s a little ambiguous but it is working and people seem to have a real hunger for something a bit different.”

Asked what he is planning after his run in the role comes to an end in May, Donovan said he will be taking a well-earned rest.

“I will be doing some specially-selected dates and I am still doing some radio work and some cartoon voiceovers but I don’t have any other projects at the moment,” he said.

“I hope this isn’t the last time I am in a show like this but I’m not sure about doing something at this pace again. But you never know.”

Priscilla Queen of the Desert is on at the Bristol Hippodrome from Monday, April 15 until Saturday, April 27.