Tim Vincent is playing down a multi-million pound deal he's supposed to have signed with US TV.

He tells Steve Pratt that talk of a £5m contract is out of control. In the meantime the former Blue Peter presenter is preparing for panto at York.

RUMOURS of the size of Tim Vincent's pay packet for his new American TV job have been greatly exaggerated. Talk of a £5m a year deal are way off the mark, says the former Blue Peter presenter.

He resists giving away precise details of how much he's being paid as a presenters on Access Hollywood, the highest-rated entertainment programme in the US. But we can be sure that it's considerably more than he's earning to tread the boards in pantomime at York Grand Opera House.

After working in the US, he's returned for panto and when the show ends, he'll head back across the Atlantic. "I'll be there for the foreseeable future. It's very much an entertainment show about the stars over there," he explains.

"I did the British version on Living TV for a year. Then they started asking me to do the European interviews when stars were in London or Italy. Then they invited me to go to New York."

He calls it "a fantastic job" and the programme is certainly prestigious, being broadcast six times a week at primetime. He gets to meet all the top stars from the film, TV and music business.. Recent encounters have included Robert De Niro, Kate Winslet, Michael Fox and Richard Branson. "I enjoy meeting people I haven't met before," he says.

He was familiar with New York from having run in the marathon there and returns probably once a year to meet up with people. The studio is putting him up in an small apartment hotel just off Times Square.

Not being American has its advantages, he feels. "It makes a different when you're interviewing people because there are only a few Brits working out there. People look at you differently - and they love Brits."

For the moment, his thoughts are on playing Dandini in panto. "From New York to York," he says, adding that it's not too much of a culture shock. "The thing is that in many respects a job is a job and I've done six or seven pantos before. Particularly this production, this is our third year together. It's like picking up a comfortable pair of shoes and putting them on.

Dandini is Prince Charming's best pal who does a lot of running around and Vincent was keen to make the role his own. "I decided, and was allowed, to inject a bit of cheekiness into it. The kids seem to like that."

Acting is nothing new for him, of course. He began as a 13-year-old in productions at Theatre Clwyd, but it was being cast two years later as alcoholic teenager Billy Ryan in ITV's popular teatime drama Children's Ward that made him famous.

Six series of that was followed by becoming the youngster presenter of BBC1's Blue Peter. He graduated from there to a role in the BBC1 crime series Dangerfield as well as presenting The Clothes Show and Fully Booked. He spent a year in ITV soap Emmerdale before two Hull Truck appearances - in John Godber's Bouncers and a stage version of Lady Chatterley's Lover.

Early in his career, his career path was undecided which probably explains his switches between acting and presenting. "I didn't know exactly what I wanted," he admits.

"You can try and plan anything you want but the nature of the business takes you along routes you wouldn't expect. Things happen that six months ago you didn't know about."

He hadn't done any acting for 18 months before the offer to present Access Hollywood came along. "I turned down plays because I didn't want to muddy the water," he says.

Even now he can't predict more than a couple of months ahead. Despite his new presenting job, he's happy to do panto. "I enjoy it. I wouldn't do it if I didn't," he says. "It's the one time of the year you do something on stage where you get interaction with the audience."

Spending your working hours meeting the rich and famous isn't as glamorous as people might think. He works 12 to 18 hour days depending on what he's covering. Some interviews are done at press junkets and premieres. Others are specially arranged for Access Hollywood.

"It's such a popular show and an independent show. It's not scurrilous so people are keen to appear. We don't deal in rumour. Madonna and Britney Spears both chose our show for interviews. We still ask hard questions but they know they'll be treated with respect."

Presenting Access Hollywood means living and working away from home. "That's a wrench in many respects but I've been doing it since I was 15. The production company in America are so nice and welcoming. You feel you are walking into a family. If you're going to be away for a year or whatever, New York is the place to be," he says.

* Cinderella runs at York Grand Opera House until January 2. Tickets 0870 606 3595.

Published: 19/12/2004