With the original line-up back together, the Happy Mondays will hit the stage at Sandown Park before heading off on a 25th anniversary UK tour later this year.

The alternative rock band from Salford, Greater Manchester, formed in 1980 and released their first track in 1985, taking on different parts of the entertainment industry over the years.

Percussionist Mark ‘Bez’ Berry, known for his funky moves on stage, headed into the Celebrity Big Brother House in 2005, before front man Shaun Ryder embarked on his journey to the I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here jungle in 2010.

Ryder says said he is looking forward to performing at the Esher racecourse for the first time.

He says: “It will be a greatest hits set with a mix of Pills n Thrills and some Bummed, a bit of all of it really.”

Despite having a vast back catalogue of hits, Ryder says he does not have a particular favourite to perform, as after playing them for 20 years “you get bored with them”.

He says: “We said we might do another album but because we have got a lot of other things going on, I just don’t know when we would have time. I could see us going on for the next 20 years, so we have time.”

A jack of all trades, Ryder has just returned from South America where he has been filming a new programme for the History Channel about his search for UFOs, which will air later this year.

Ryder declines to give us any inside secrets about whether he saw any UFOs, but does talk about his stint in the Australian outback, when he finished runner up to X-Factor’s Stacey Solomon.

He says he would definitely go back to the jungle, having had the time of his life there previously.

Back to the day at Sandown Park, Ryder will focus on the time on stage rather than placing bets on horses, but says his main hope is to be out in the sunshine and soak up the atmosphere.

Speaking about the reunion, the front man says they were offered the chance to do the original line up and he was willing to do it if everyone else was.

He initially thought Bez might not want to, because he would not want to bust out his signature moves any more at the age of 49, but he was up for the challenge. The rest is history.

Ryder says: “It is great and it is much better now than it was back in the day. We are all grown-ups now and there is no drama, it’s just rock and roll. There is no drama. That goes with being young.”

Happy Mondays; Sandown Park, Portsmouth Road, Esher; July 31, first race at 6pm, band perform after the last race at 8.45pm; £37, £20 five to 17 year olds, under fours free; visit sandown.co.uk.