IT'S a brave man who tries to relive his youth, but Jason Donovan's determined to give it his best shot.

While many men in their forties might fret over their ageing appearance or splash out on a motorbike, the actor, who found fame as a teenager in Australian soap Neighbours alongside Kylie Minogue and is now known largely as a musical theatre leading man, is going public with a bid to turn the clock back.

Next year his UK tour, Ten Good Reasons and Greatest Hits will see him return to the heyday of his pop career. He'll perform all the songs on his 1989 smash hit album, Ten Good Reasons, including singles Too Many Broken Hearts, Sealed With A Kiss, and Nothing Can Divide Us, which won the then 21-year-old Australian the global adoration of millions of teenagers.

"I may not look exactly like that 21-year-old, but I don't think I'm looking too bad!" says Jason, 47, with a smile. "I feel I'm at the peak of my professional abilities."

Although the face is more lined these days and the hair brown rather than beach-boy blonde, those blue eyes still have a twinkle, and he's trim and charming with an appealing self-mocking wit.

"The success of that album was the most amazing 21st birthday gift. I never meant to be a pop star. I was just so lucky, in the right place at the right time, with the best music producers in the world, Scott Aitken Waterman, and we created magic," says Jason. "Recently, I thought: 'Let's meet up with my fans again so together we can relive those halcyon days when we were young and things were simpler and less complicated'. There are songs on there I've never sung live before," he says, explaining the decision to tour after a break of seven years.

"Will fans still be swooning and throwing themselves at the stage? Well, I actually hadn't noticed they'd ever stopped doing that!" he jokes. "That album has a place in many people's hearts and the show's a celebration of my life. I'll chat and reminisce and I think it'll be brilliant fun, but also quite poignant."

Jason has come a long way since 20 million UK viewers watched him marry Kylie Minogue (as Scott Robinson to her Charlene Mitchell) in 1988. He went on to date her in real life before she dumped him for rock star Michael Hutchence.

Jason's star continued to shine when he took the lead role in the West End production of Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat in 1991, giving him his third solo UK number one with Any Dream Will Do. But by the mid-Nineties it was well-documented that he was bingeing on cocaine.

"I'm an extremist who works incredibly hard, has huge drive then just stops for a while, but even then I find it hard to relax," he reveals. "In those days of self-indulgence in the Nineties, I'd party hard and not come home for a few days, but even during those times I was conscientious about work. I'm a perfectionist at heart so I never ever mixed those two parts of my life. Of course, I wish I'd done things differently then, but I think, in a way, going through that made me stronger and probably a bit more interesting."

Salvation came in the form of his wife, Angela, a stage manager he met while performing in The Rocky Horror Show in 1998. With her support, he renounced his wild ways and the couple have three children, Jemma, 15, Zach, 14, and Molly, four.

Jason, who was brought up by his actor father after his parents divorced when he was five, says: "During my childhood, the closest woman in my life was my grandmother, so I think I needed a strong woman and I was lucky enough to finally find Ange. She's my backbone, has a strong moral compass, gives me gravity and I respect her. I do everything to look after my 'nest', her and the children."

Jason has sold more than 13 million albums, starred in musicals including Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Sweeney Todd, and his TV credits include appearances in I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! and Strictly Come Dancing.

Currently he has a radio show on Heart and will soon embark on a tour of Priscilla Queen Of The Desert as Tick, a role he originally played in the West End. Recently he also played Lionel Logue, the Australian speech therapist, in a touring stage production of The King's Speech.

He chuckles at the thought that next year's singing tour has the potential to embarrass his teenage children. "I'm used to that! When I was on Strictly they went underground for a month until they found I was, at one point, getting the highest scores in the whole competition. Then they started trading on my name," he laughs. "When I do next year's shows, it does slightly concern them because one of the venues is near their school. They'll have to walk past with their mates and my name will be up in lights. Deep down though I reckon they think it's pretty cool, though they'd never admit it.

"Having children completes the circle of life. They're wonderful and mean more to me than any gold records or fame. They've taught me patience, unselfishness and how to give love and understanding unconditionally."

He declares himself at a great stage in his life. "The greatest thing about my story is that I know what I don't want to do in life, whereas some people get to 40 and just go for it, marriages break up and there's a bit of chaos. I got all that out of my system years ago and I'm happy to be at home with my kids, watching TV, and not going out getting hammered. I'm certainly not planning a mid-life crisis," he says.

* Priscilla, Queen of the Desert runs at the Alhambra from October 12 - 17. For tickets call (01274) 432000.