Ex Eastender John Partridge: 'The party's over - now it's time to get on with Cinderella panto'

SOAP actor John Partridge admits he's been having a week of partying ahead of his debut in the panto Cinderella at the Theatre Royal tomorrow.

But the 41-year-old, best known for playing hunky Christian Clarke in EastEnders for five years, promises that will change once the four-week run gets under way.

"Nottingham's great, isn't it?" John laughs. "Plenty of students, plenty of night life – I've already been out a fair bit actually. Work hard, play hard, that's my motto.

"We've been out this week, but I won't do that during the panto run. That's too much, even for me."

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It's not the first time the star has experienced all the delights that Nottingham has to offer. An accomplished West End performer who trained with the Royal Ballet, John was at the Theatre Royal for Miss Saigon in 2005.

And he's quite definite when it comes to his "favourite" aspect of our fair city.

"The one-way system, that's wonderful," he says, tongue-in-cheek. "I was driving up a tram street yesterday and everyone was flashing at me. I was, like, 'there's not a lot I can do now, I'm gonna have to go up here'.

"I've got about 20 parking violations and only been here a couple of days. I've ruined my nice clean driving licence. I blame the sat-nav."

John's career has seen him perform in more than a dozen high profile roles in the West End including Tommy, Grease and Starlight Express.

He was also a judge on the hugely successful television series Over the Rainbow, while he won the Inside Soap Award for sexiest male in 2009.

He'll be performing in Cinderella alongside Three Degrees singer Sheila Ferguson and veteran comics The Grumbleweeds.

"It's a really great show, musically it's wonderful and there's something for everyone.

"The ensemble dances are brilliant, they dance up a storm and Sheila's fantastic."

Read why John said farewell to EastEnders in our Weekend magazine, free with the Nottingham Post tomorrow.

Cinderella runs at the Theatre Royal until Sunday, January 13. Tickets, priced £13.50 to £27.50, are available at www.trch.co.uk or on 0115 989 5555