JORGIE Porter and Keith Jack are sitting in a stifling hot dance studio in the centre of Manchester looking remarkably cool as they talk about their part in Fame the Musical.

When we meet they are just days away from the opening night of the show’s 30th anniversary tour which starts at the Palace Theatre before heading around the country and the excitement is palpable.

Keith will play Nick Piazza and Jorgie, Iris Kelly, in the show which charts the ups and downs of students dreaming of stardom at the New York School for the Performing Arts.

“Even though many people know the show, they will come and see this production and see things they haven’t seen before,” said Keith. “It is gritty, it will make you laugh, it will break your heart and it will have you dancing in the aisles.”

Both Keith and Jorgie can relate to their characters who desperately want to make it in showbusiness, having achieved fame in different ways.

For Keith it was originally via Any Dream Will Do, the TV search to find a Joseph for the musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, on which he finished runner-up. He did get to play the lead role in a major UK tour and has also released several albums and toured with John Barrowman.

For Jorgie, fame came after she was plucked from obscurity as a teenager to play Theresa in Hollyoaks, a role she enjoyed for eight years. Since then she has also headed into the Jungle in I’m a Celebrity and finished runner-up on the reality skating show Dancing on Ice.

Trafford-born Jorgie dreamed of being a dancer, going to her first ballet class aged just three and then going on to ballet school

“I always thought I’d be a backing dancer for someone like Justin Timberlake,” she said. “When the Pussycat Dolls do their song When I Grow Up, I did think that being famous would be cool but it’s a lot different to what you think it will be like as a kid.

“If you’ve worked hard to get where you want to be, you appreciate the effort you’ve had to make whereas if people just shoot into the spotlight it can be difficult.”

Keith added: “When I was young, I just wanted to perform on stage. The further you get, the fame side does start to creep in but you don’t go into it for that. Once you get to that stage where fame creeps in, that’s where the hard work really begins. You are doing what you want to do and you have to work 10 times harder to keep doing it.”

For Jorgie, Fame the Musical will be her first major stage role and comes after she headed over to America to take acting classes.

“I knew that I had to carry on learning my craft,” she said. “I wanted to do it in another country because if I did it here people would be like ‘she’s that telly person’. I wanted to be a fresh face where people didn’t know who I was or what I’d done.

“They had no idea who I was apart from one woman, Ingrid, who came into class one day and asked me ‘Are you a skater?’. She said her flatmate was from Manchester and had recognised my name. I begged her not to blow my cover and fortunately she didn’t - I learned so much over there, it was amazing.”

She’s hoping that Fame the Musical will give her the chance to show her all-round skills as a performer.

“I do like to shock people” she laughed, “and hopefully people will be surprised; I think they already are when they hear I’ll be dancing because many of them don’t realise that is what I’ve trained for – it’s just I’ve gone the long way about it.

“I’ve watched the film for research, it wasn’t really my era. I was more into Save the Last Dance

“But it’s been like being taken back to when I was at college 16 with people just playing instruments in the green room and singing on tables.”

For many fans, Jorgie will forever be associated with Hollyoaks.

“I think a lot of people still think I’m in it even though I left the show two years ago,” she giggles, something that happens a lot during the interview. “But I will never regret being in Hollyoaks and maybe, one day I’d go back.”

Keith too has to live with the association with a particular role - in his case Joseph.

“If I do anything I’m always asked to do a Joseph song or if I do panto I’m always asked to take my top off because of the whole loin cloth thing,” he said. “For me Joseph was a massive part of my life and helped get me to where I am but you have to work hard to then be remembered for other things too. Twelve months from now I want audiences to think, ‘I loved that guy who played Nick in Fame’.”

With the show opening in Manchester, Jorgie has already used her local knowledge to sort out a treat.

“I’ve sorted a night out on our last night,” she said. “It’s my gift to the cast - I’m buying their affection!”

Fame the Musical is at the Palace Theatre, Manchester, until Saturday, July 28. Details from 0844 871 3019 or www.atgtickets.com