Nearly four decades have passed since a fresh-faced Gary Wilmot burst onto the showbiz scene on talent show New Faces.

Since then the Lambeth-born star, now 61, has starred in too many TV, West End and touring theatre shows to count.

He’s coming to New Wimbledon Theatre from October 20 to 24 as part of the cast of the musical Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, which has been adapted from the popular Steve Martin and Michael Caine film, and also stars Noel Sullivan and Hollyoaks’s Carly Stenson.

It will be a nice opportunity for the star to return to an area his is familiar with.

He said: “I used to play a lot of football at Raynes Park so we passed through Wimbledon nearly every Saturday. I worked just up the road in Wandsworth and I know the area reasonably well.

He added: “I’ve played [New Wimbledon Theatre] a few times. I like the theatre very, very much.

“I was pleased to see it was reinvigorated about 20 years ago because there was serious talk about pulling it down. Then they spent some money on it instead. I’m pleased to see it is going stronger than it ever has done.”

Few performers have achieved as much in their careers as Gary Wilmot, so we asked the star for just a few of his career highlights.

New Faces, 1978

I was doing a double-act then with a young girl called Judy McPhee and we did fast-moving impressions and we ended up doing three shows all-in-all on New Faces. It was a big springboard that from anonymity. In those days, New Faces used to get 18 million viewers. So if you went on it and did well, people would remember you forever.

Me and My Girl, 1989 at The Adelphi Theatre, West End

I did a lot of work in variety and it was all moving very quickly. I did royal shows, command performances and the Royal Albert Hall – pretty much everything – and then all of a sudden came along Me and My Girl in musical theatre.

And that absolutely changed my life. I was a common or garden variety performer doing jokes and dancing and singing songs and the rest of it. Along came Me and My Girl and I never looked back. It was definitely the highlight of my career.

Carmen Jones (1991)

I did do a show that was a big surprise to everybody and a very dramatic role indeed, playing Joe in Carmen Jones at the Old Vic (directed by Simon Callow) for 18 months. That was a big learning curve for me, not just from a singing point of view but from an acting point of view as well.

Copacabana (1994)

From a personal point of view, Copacabana (Barry Manilow’s musical, which Gary starred in when it first came to the West End) was massively publicity for me. Working with Barry Manilow was a real joy.

Showstoppers (1994)

Showstoppers was a landmark television programme for me. I was working with the BBC concert orchestra every week for about three months.It was absolutely fascinating. Singing with orchestras is something I have always loved doing so to do that every single week, and to get to know the orchestra members personally, was just fantastic.

Gary Wilmot stars in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels at New Wimbledon Theatre from October 20 to 24. Tickets cost from £15. Go to atgtickets.com/wimbledon or call 0844 871 7646.