There's no mistaking that sexy Australian drawl. Jason Donovan may be 38 but his voice transports you straight back to the 80s as soon as he opens that cute Ozzy mouth.

And what a journey he's had since then - soap opera heart-throb, Kylie's boyfriend, pop pin-up, druggy, musical actor, dad, and most recently reality TV show hero.

And now he's back, and coming to Oxford's New Theatre on Wednesday, to give us a good old trip down memory lane with his one-man show which immediately transports you to that golden era when Jason Donovan was as good as it got.

Talking to me from his London home where he lives in domestic bliss with his partner Ange, two kids and various pets, Jason says "I've no regrets," while grinning away like a Chesire cat.

And why should he? He's back doing exactly what he wants - and although some have questioned his decision to appear on I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here - he was a big hit and the show has enabled him to get back on stage and enjoy his refound fame.

"Some people thought it was a bit tacky to do a reality TV show. But reality TV is here to stay, like it or not, so if I was going to do a show this ticked all the right boxes in terms of Big Brother etc and at the end of the day it gave me a sense of adventure.

"And to be honest I was looking at a bit of a blank canvas this year," he laughs, "and Celebrity has enabled me to do something I've been thinking about for the past 10 years, so who cares about cool.

"It was definitely the right thing to do at the right time because there was nothing negative about the experience or the coverage - it was a means to an end and I'm still riding on the wave."

Why he should be so defensive about his role in Celebrity I don't know, because he came out of it very well, but it's obviously music that really gets him going.

"By touring I'm giving the fans an opportunity to recapture a moment of time and to reflect a bit. That's the wonderful thing about music and what attracted me in the first place.

"It's the only medium that really captures the raw feeling of when you were that age, and if that was somewhere between nine and 20 years old it's even more poignant because it captured the culture as well as the potent emotion."

He's on a roll, but then he's hugely excited about this tour. "The time was ripe and pop has a cycle - I mean look at Take That - although my boat is floating much later than it should have," he laughs.

"And sure there is always a limited shelf life, but my fans, who are mainly 25-plus, still have buying power."

So has all this reminiscing made Jason nostalgic? "I saw pop at its best but I've been playing in clubs, making personal appearances and gigging for the past 15 years, so the songs don't," he says.

And what of his own personal journey? Jason battled against a well-chronicled drug addiction in the 1990s before kicking the habit.

"I hope that at 55 I'll still be standing but I did go hard and fast for a while," he grins. "But if you are going to look at my life I had some wonderful opportunities and made the most of them.

"I certainly don't now feel the need to go out there wearing 21-year-old's clothes or worry that I didn't live the Rolling Stones lifestyle.

"But I think we are the first generation that has done it as well as, or more than our kids. I mean all new parents have experienced the whole ecstacy and rave generation so who knows how that will manifest itself?"

Either way, Jason's delighted to be back on the road alone.

Jason Donovan appears at Oxford's New Theatre on Wednesday. Box office on 0870 606 3500.