MARTIN Kemp has come a long way since he was a regular at London's Blitz Club, the beating heart of the early 1980s New Romantic scene.

From the club came Spandau Ballet, who went on to storm the charts in the Eighties and, along with rivals Duran Duran, were at the forefront of the new wave of pop.

Back then Martin wore a tartan cape and frilly shirt, he became a Smash Hits pin-up, with his twinkly eyes and shy grin sending teenage girls into a frenzy.

Now he's better known as an actor, although he's back with Spandau Ballet following a reunion tour last year. Back in the day, the band had a string of hits, including Gold, Only When You Leave and True.

You may know him best as one fifth of Spandau Ballet, one half of the film The Krays, or as bad boy Steve Owen in EastEnders. Martin will be reflecting on his life and career - from overcoming the challenge of a brain tumour to forging a career in film, TV and music - at Ilkley's King's Hall next week.

There will also be chance for the audience to put their questions to him.

"I was on the road with Spandau Ballet, which is a huge machine playing to some of the biggest venues in the world, and it hit me that to some of the audience I was a speck of dust on the stage. No more than a thumb size on the giant video screens!" says Martin. "It was then that I thought how cool it would be to scale it right back and say 'hi' to all those people who supported us, and answer their questions about the band, my career and my life - so everyone can really get to know the real me!"

So what can we expect?

"It's a chance to listen to stories about the band, my career and my life with all its ups and downs," he says. "I'm used to touring, it has become part of my life. Thank God for FaceTime," adds the father-of-two, who has been married to Shirley Holliman, formerly one half of Eighties pop duo Pepsi and Shirley, since 1988.

Born in Islington, Martin went to the Anna Scher Children's Theatre with his brother Gary and appeared in TV shows such as The Tomorrow People and Dixon of Dock Green. After leaving school he began an apprenticeship at a print firm but his life changed when Steve Dagger, manager of Gary's band The Gentry, suggested he should replace the bass player. Martin learned to play bass in three months and his first performance was at a college party. The band was later re-named Spandau Ballet.

Four of their albums reached the Top Ten, and with True they had their first Number One album and single.

Following a dispute which led to the band splitting up in the early 1990s, (they re-formed in 2009), Martin and Gary returned to acting, both starring in The Krays. Martin had success in American TV dramas The Outer Limits and Highlander: The Series and appeared in several films.

In the mid-Nineties he took time out to recover from the removal of two benign brain tumours, which involved having a metal plate implanted in his head. In 1998 he returned to TV in The Bill and became one of the main players in EastEnders which saw him at the centre of a high-profile murder plot.

After leaving the soap he starred in such dramas as The Brides in the Bath, partly filmed at Bradford's City Hall, and Waterloo Road. He won new fans coming third in Celebrity Big Brother in 2012 and more recently appeared in ITV’s Birds of a Feather.

  •  Martin Kemp is at King's Hall, Ilkley, on Tuesday, May 17. For tickets call 01274 432000.