Recently he’s been making up for lost time.

“I saw people queuing up outside the Empire to go and see them, but I suppose I thought they were a bit poncey,” he says. “Now I know how much work goes into them I’ve got so much respect for the people on stage. I’ve seen Wicked, Sister Act and Jersey Boys, my eyes have been opened to how good they are. Going to watch a musical beats the cinema.”

He was picked because he fulfilled producers’ wish list for a high profile actor with a buff body. Does he worry about being pigeon-holed as eye candy?

“I see having a good body as an extra string to my bow,” explains Philip.

“I’ve got the shape already so it doesn’t take much maintenance and while I’m young I want to keep fit. I can hide it with clothes for roles that require me to.

“My career wouldn’t have been the same if I hadn’t had the body.

“I’d have never got the chance to train as a singer and dancer without my body. I’ve been in Brookside since I was 14 and never had time to train in anything like that. At 29 I thought that door was sealed to me.”

With a devoted gay following and a playful friendship forged with camp actor Christopher Biggins on Come Dine With Me, some might be surprised to learn that Philip has been with his girlfriend Francesca for 10 years. “I know what you’re saying,” laughs Philip.

“But when I played Tinhead people thought I was this hard guy. I used to get young people starting on me. I used to get my nose broken and my face bottled when I was out because kids wanted to show off in front of their friends. It was a torrid time. I was cheesed off then, now I think I must have been doing a good job.”

It was only when he won C4’s The Games in 2005 that people started seeing him in a different light to the troubled Merseyside teen.

“I love Tinhead,” he says cheerfully. “When will that die down? The other day a seven year old was shouting Tinhead at me. He wasn’t even born when Tinhead was on TV!

“But as long as it’s attention it’s not bad.”

Philip will only be appearing on the Saturday and Sunday shows of the Empire run. He wasn’t meant to be doing it then at all, as he was only booked for a six month run. Monday to Friday he’s rehearsing the title role in panto Dick Whittington in Camberley, Surrey.

“I couldn’t have missed out on Liverpool,” he says. “I begged them to give me time off. It’s my homecoming.”

Never Forget runs at the Empire Theatre, Liverpool from Dec 1-5. Tickets from the box office on 0844 847 2525