POSSIBLY the reason Jill Halfpenny, of Strictly Come Dancing fame, has become such a hit, both on TV and on the London stage, is that the warmth she exudes comes from the heart.

Our telephone interview is more of a natter than a question-and-answer session.

When I tell her my mum voted three times for her to win at the live tour in Newcastle on Saturday night, she emits a delighted chuckle.

"Tell your mam thank-you very much from me! I'll give you a ring if we win!"

Sadly, despite our repeated texts, Jill hasn't yet scooped a win on the live tour. To date Rachel Stevens has been named champ every single evening.

"I know... if I can't get a win in Newcastle, where can I?" jokes Geordie Jill of her hometown.

To many Strictly fans it will seem unthinkable that Jill, 33, series two champion and, to many of us the Grande Dame of the programme, hasn't yet triumphed.

She herself doesn't see it that way, though.

"There are so many brilliant dancers on Strictly now," she says. "I watch it every single year, just as a fan. I really loved watching Alesha Dixon; in fact, I've loved all the winners... Darren Gough was a real people-pleaser and there were loads of people this year who were great. Lisa and Rachel were fantastic and Tom is a lovely guy. You can't help but like him. He's so sweet."

The tour has flung together celebrity dancers from four of Strictly's five seasons.

"It's such a cool bunch of people," says Jill. "A real pleasure. It's been lovely getting to know Jodie Kidd and Rachel, and Cherie Lunghi is such a nice lady. And the guys are just brilliant."

It also gives the celebs a chance to meet their fans, the people who sit by their phones on speed-dial every Saturday trying to hoist their favourites clear of the dreaded dance-off.

Jill, of course, generally spent her Strictly season at the opposite end of the table creating memorable routines with her nice-guy partner Darren Bennett, their quick-kicking jive being just one of them.

It's been four years since she did the TV show, so how is she managing to recreate that sparkle after just a fortnight of training?

"It's a really, really tiring dance," she admits. "You have to really rev yourself up before you do it. It's a minute-and-a-half but you have to burst with energy for all that time. So it's one of those dances where you have to say to yourself, 'Come on now! Just go for it!' Sometimes I wish I was just doing a rumba!"

Still, the audience wouldn't have it any other way. This is the dance that's gone down in Strictly history books, packed, as it is, with joie de vivre.

"It's always nice when people say they remember some of my dances," she says. "Strictly for me has been an amazing experience. When you do it, you feel connected with an audience. It's quite difficult when you're doing dramas; you don't always get that feedback."

Probably not, especially since Jill has landed many an acting role in which she's played "the other woman".

In Coronation Street she played nurse Rebecca who had an affair with Martin Platt, in Eastenders she was Kate, who had an affair with Phil Mitchell, and in the more recent Waterloo Road she was luring yet another newlywed away from his wife.

"It's typical! Every time I get a part it's like by the way you will be sleeping with someone's husband. Oh, great!" she jokes.

However, Jill's homewreckers are far more angsty, heart-wrenching creations than the run-of-the-mill man-eating soap bitches.

"They are by far the most interesting characters," she admits. "You have somebody who's having a moral struggle, with their heart telling them one thing, the head another. Everybody knows that's one of the hardest things in life to have to deal with."

Acting is Jill's passion, although she has detoured into a couple of musicals. She was Liesl in The Sound of Music and Roxy Hart in Chicago.

She began her career at the age of 13 as Nicola ("Nik-la") on celebrated Newcastle teen show Byker Grove.

"For something like that to come along for me was a dream come true. I was the happiest little girl on earth. I couldn't believe I was getting this opportunity," she recalls.

She still doesn't know where the acting bug came from.

"Not even one person in my family was theatrical. I don't know where I got the idea from. My mum used to work as a classroom helper, my dad was in construction."

Aged 18 she flew off to drama school in London but she's settled back near Hexham in the North East now with her husband Craig and son Harvey, born in May.

The acting has been on the back-burner for a while but she's all set to throw herself into a project come the end of the tour.

"I'm just concentrating on the tour at the moment," she says, "but I'm looking forward to having something lined up afterwards, after all that dancing!"

Strictly Come Dancing is at the Arena on Tuesday and Wednesday January 27 and 28. For ticket availability call 08444 124624.

JENNIFER SCOTT