HE was crowned king of the jungle, but nothing beats the buzz of being on stage for entertainer Joe Pasquale.The engaging entertainer is back in Great Yarmouth next month for three dates at the Britannia Theatre on his summer tour.

HE was crowned king of the jungle, but nothing beats the buzz of being on stage for entertainer Joe Pasquale.

The engaging entertainer is back in Great Yarmouth next month for three dates at the Britannia Theatre on his summer tour.

It is something of a homecoming for Joe, who performed one of his first professional gigs in the town and lived 12 years in Hopton from 1986.

Years before winning the ITV1 reality show I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here, Joe was entertainment manager at Corton Coastal Resort.

And the quirky funny man still retains a great deal of affection for the area where he first found his feet as a performer.

“I always look forward to coming up here, Yarmouth is a fantastic place and the Britannia holds a lot of good memories,” said Joe.

“One of the things I really like doing up here is having a pint of whelks, they don't taste as good anywhere else. The beach is great and I like wandering up to the market if it's not too hot.”

Since appearing on I'm a Celebrity, Joe has acquired a taste for adventure, learning to fly, climbing a volcano and starring in a TV show filmed in a Costa Rican prison.

Joe still loves the challenge of live theatre and is promising plenty of variety with his new show intriguingly entitled Magic, Mayhem, Nostradamus and More.

He said: “The show changes every year, its boring doing the same thing for too long. It's a spontaneous mixture of singing, music, magic, stand up, painting and stupidity.

“Not a lot of comedians do family shows - I get everybody from five to 95 year olds in the audience.

“I love performing; it is a real buzz being in front of a live audience. I just don't like being stuck in the van on the motorway.

“I've done so much more since being on I'm a Celebrity - that was six years ago, but I'm happy to talk about it.

“Before I went on the show I was a complete coward, but on the first day they threw me out of a plane, then a couple of days later I was hanging out of a helicopter.”

Joe Pasquale is appearing at the Britannia Theatre on Sunday, August 2, Monday, August 17 and Monday, August 31.

Tickets, �16.50, are available from the theatre box office on 01493 842209 or online at www.britannia-pier.co.uk.