YOU can take the boy out of Southend, but you can’t take Southend out of the boy... That’s the overwhelming impression Lee Mead gives off as he discusses the past three years of his life.

It is an aura that suggests he still is, and always will be, a Southender – despite being catapulted into the stratosphere of stardom since winning Any Dream Will Do, the 2007 TV show on which he met Denise Van Outen, his wife, and now the mother of his new-born daughter, Betsy.

“I’m a Southend lad,” declares the 28-year-old. “I’m based in Kent now, but where you are from, is where you are from.

“It’s always nice to come back and be involved in various projects.”

Lee next returns to his hometown at the end of this month for an exclusive concert at the Cliffs Pavilion. It’s a venue he has visited many times over the years, though in very different capacities.

“I saw shows there as a kid with family and friends, and at 15 I worked back stage for six weeks as part of my school work experience,” he recalls fondly.

“I operated the spotlight for a couple of shows, I think it was for Joe Pasquale.

“And now I’m in the spotlight, it’s quite bizarre.

“In 2004, I was in the ensemble of a touring production of Joseph and came to the Cliffs then, but to come back and put on my own concert is unbelievable.”

Lee will perform tracks from Joseph, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s renowned West End musical, which he starred in after triumphing in the BBC talent show. He will also perform tracks from his two solo albums, 2007’s self-titled debut and last year’s follow-up Nothing Else Matters.

Lee is also keen to point out he’s spent a long time rehearsing and recruiting the right set of musicians for the concert. They include players from the bands of both Tom Jones and Corinne Bailey Rae.

“I’m slightly nervous, but more than anything I’m excited,” he admits.

“It’s going to be very special because it’s in my home town.”

But before then, the performer has a more impending project, as he takes on the role of Fiyero in the London production of Wicked, from Monday.

The part of the prince was offered to Lee just at the right time; shortly after he completed a film course at New York’s prestigious Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute and had taken a role in the touring production of the Oscar Wilde drama Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime.

Yet, he explains why getting the call for Wicked at that time proved slightly ironic.

“Last summer, when I was in New York, I went to Times Square to try to get tickets to the show,” he says. “It was sold out completely.

“It’s just quite strange that when I got back, I was cast in the show.

“I finished Joseph last January and got offered a couple of things in the West End, but it wasn’t right.

“This was the right time to do a musical again. There had been enough time for me to have another experience and I was excited about doing a show again.

“This is the perfect show for me.”

Lee’s own fulfilment is clearly something which takes precedence when he decides to accept or decline roles.

He adds: “First and foremost I ask myself, is this something I’m going to enjoy? It’s important to enjoy what you are doing and embrace the whole experience at the time.”

With Lee’s marriage to Basildon beauty Denise the talk of the tabloids, how does it feel to go from being a virtual unknown to celebrity hot property, in the space of just three years?

“The first few weeks after Joseph were a bit strange,” says Lee. “All of a sudden I was doing interviews and being in the press.

“But after two or three years you adjust.

“The key is being yourself,” he adds, showing at heart he’s still the same Southend boy.

In those three years though, Lee has never failed to recognise the importance of winning Any Dream Will Do.

“The Joseph experience was life-changing on a career level and a personal level,” he states.

“If I hadn’t gone on the show, I would never have met my wife. In a career sense, it gave me the chance to show people on a bigger level what I could do.”

With Wicked just around the corner, Lee’s day job looks set to be as busy as ever. All this, however, pales into insignificance beside the arrival of the couple’s baby girl Betsy, who was born last weekend.

“Career-wise it’s been great,” he adds. “But I think becoming a father tops everything else. It’s a very exciting time.”