For one young man the sight of model- turned-actress Kelly Brook in the flesh was too much. "Oh my God. Oh my God," he kept repeating, along with less printable comments about her figure, as she paused on the red carpet, posing for the camera on his mobile phone.

He had seen dozens of revealing pictures of her in lads' magazines and newspapers but he could not quite get over seeing her in person.

She dutifully smiled and posed in her stunning cerise dress, the work of the same designer who made Halle Berry's Oscar night dress.

Miss Brook was in Newcastle for the premiere of the romantic comedy School For Seduction, made on location in the city and which is her first starring movie role.

A large crowd gathered outside The Gate, where the film was premiered last night, to see the celebrity audience of actors and sportsmen arrive in stretch limousines.

In the movie, by Newcastle writer and director Sue Heel, she plays a glamorous Italian who teaches Geordie women how to be sexy and catch their man. Miss Brook had flown over from Los Angeles, where she has been working, with her boyfriend, Billy Zane, the American actor who was in Titanic.

The pair have been a couple since meeting on the set of the film Three.

Hollywood star Billy, wearing a suit and flat cap, signed autographs, shook hands and chatted to people in the crowd.

So did Auf Wiedersehen Pet star Tim Healy, who drew some of the biggest cheers of the night as he walked the red carpet.

He appears in the film as the husband of Margi Clarke, the former Coronation Street actress and presenter of The Good Sex Guide. She shimmied and pouted for photographers.

Neil Stuke, who plays a car-obsessed husband in the film, was there too.

This was in marked contrast to footballer Paul Gascoigne, an early arrival who almost slipped in unnoticed and was reluctant to stop for photographers.

But it was Miss Brook, braving the night-time chill in her revealing dress, that the crowd had come to see.

And she did not let them down. Earlier, at a Press conference, she had promised not to cover up and disappoint her fans, whatever the weather.

"When I first came to Newcastle I was so shocked that everyone goes out without a coat, because it's so freezing.

"I won't wear a coat tonight but go out Geordie style," she said.

The young man with the phone camera was clearly glad that she kept her word.

The screening at the Odeon cinema was followed by a VIP party with an Italian theme at Bar Beyond, in the Gate complex.

School for Seduction opens in cinemas on Friday.