Debbie McGee talks about her role in the Wolverhampton Grand's panto Sleeping Beauty

Resilient, loving, kind and a right good laugh, Debbie has faced down her critics and found the showbiz sweet spot.

A trouper who had a successful career prior to her long, loving and happy marriage with Paul, a woman who has found new affection and warmth from the general public following his passing, she smashed it on last year’s Strictly Come Dancing. Debbie struck up a remarkable double act with professional dancer Giovanni Pernice as the duo reached the final, only to be beaten by Joe McFadden and Katya Jones.

Since then, the phone hasn’t stopped ringing. Her agent calls every day with new requests and offers of work. And though Debbie doesn’t have time to accept every request, one that got the thumbs up was an offer to feature in the Wolverhampton Grand Theatre pantomime. She’ll star in Sleeping Beauty until January 13 along with Richard Cadell and Sooty. Panto favourites Doreen Tipton and Ian Adams are both back by popular demand, returning for a third consecutive season, while West End star Oliver Ormson (Book of Mormon, The Addams Family) will play the Prince. Make no mistake, however, Debbie is the star name in this year’s production and she can’t wait for the curtain to go up.

“I love panto and I’ve been to the Wolverhampton Grand a few times for work. When I’ve been to Wolverhampton before, however, it’s always been for one night and then I’ve moved on.

“But I do really enjoy the theatre, it’s such a beautiful place, and I’ve also got lots of friends in the area. I have family that live nearby too and whenever I’m in that area I always find the people are so warm and friendly. So, yes, I’m really looking forward to it.

“When I do panto, I stand on the side of the stage and I can’t wait to get on and do my turn. I can’t explain that excitement. It’s like going to the best party every performance. You know, it’s Christmas and the atmosphere from everybody, not just the kids, is so warm. So I just get drawn into that. Something that Paul used to say and it’s very true is this: As a performer, if you have a good time then the audience will too. I’m a big believer in that.”

For performers, panto means discipline with so many shows and matinees each week. So Debbie will be sticking to a strict regime and avoiding junk food, fuelling herself with healthy snacks to remain in top form.

She got the gig, like so many other things, after dazzling the nation on Strictly. Her success wasn’t simply down to being a great dancer – she had a formal ballet training, which helped – it was also because she was fighting against grief and because she struck up such a warm and genuine bond with Giovanni. The tabloids speculated, as the tabloids do, that they’d found romance, though such headline-grabbing and salacious stories were nonsense. The two of them simply became the best of friends and remain so one year on.

“I have to say, Strictly was nothing but good. From the moment I heard I’d got it until now, it’s all been great. I was well and truly in the Strictly bubble. When people ask me what it’s like to be on Strictly, I tell them it’s like drinking Champagne every day.

“It’s really hard work but it’s also very rewarding. When I came into showbiz, Strictly was the type of show that got me in. It’s glamorous and you’re learning something every day.

“The other thing is that the people on the show all want you to do well. From the runners who get your coffee to the producers, they’re all out for your good. I felt like the movie stars must have when they had people running around for them. Everyone on that team is so special and lovely. At my age, I was allowed to show what I was made of, which was a remarkable opportunity.

“And even though I did ballet more than 30 years ago at the Royal Ballet School, I still had to learn the choreography. I’ve worked with pro dancers who can’t pick up steps so it’s not as easy as some people think.”

Giovanni was the reason Debbie did so well and they still send one another messages and provide emotional support. Debbie describes their friendship as utterly genuine and says she feels privileged that Giovanni entered her life at just the right time.

“Giovanni and I . . . well, it’s a very special friendship, one you can’t describe. It’s built out of respect for each other. We both very quickly realised what talent we had and we knew we could work together and do well. At his young age he knows so much and that was the rock.

“We taught each other so much, that was the basis for it. Strictly is a tough so and we were both so exhausted every day. But we supported each other through it and still do. Arlene Phillips put on Twitter that we had a rare chemistry and there was something there. Giovanni and I will always be there and always be friends. There was no romance whatsoever, our relationship was built out of respect. I’ve been a performer for many, many years and I’ve done a lot of TV and theatre and I understand the difference. You work much bigger in theatre than in TV. As performers, we both gave from our soul. It wasn’t about doing the steps. It was about giving it your all, from your soul. It’s like a singer who moves you or a comedian who makes you laugh. It’s not just about dancing. It’s about making your audience feel something for you. Even now, I get stopped wherever I am because of Strictly. The general public hasn’t forgotten. I’ve had this rush of love and warmth since doing that show.”

We can’t not talk about Paul Daniels, of course. The interview would be incomplete without it. And I broach the subject by telling Debbie how happy she and he were on the two occasions that we’d interviewed them for this newspaper. Laughing and joking, Paul had stopped one of the interviews to make a joke with Debbie about the biscuits she’d just fetched him, giving an insight into their normal, always-laughing, always-supporting-each-other lives.

She goes straight to the standard line she’s offered following his death in 2016. “My main thing is how lucky I was to have him in my life. That’s the main thing that’s kept me going.”

And while some performers might offer such platitudes as part of their routine, with Debbie it’s genuine. Paul and Debbie had an unlikely but utterly brilliant love story. The two were made for each other. Always laughing, always joking, always working hard, they were the truest of soul mates.

“We had the greatest life together and no doubts from either side that we loved each other. Every day was special with Paul and he made me laugh every day. It’s incredibly tough going through grief. I’m not saying it’s ever easy. But each day, I say how lucky I was to have experienced that. At every level we were soulmates, at work and at home. I just have to appreciate that for more than 30 years I spent it with somebody I loved. Not everybody has that in their life but I did and I feel so grateful that I did. Through the good and bad times, we were solid. Every day we were giggling.”

And then she breaks. And it sounds as though she’s catching her breath and recomposing herself. Memories remain raw and there is much grief still to process. So we talk about other stuff and the mood lightens.

Lest we forget, though Debbie is best known for her partnership with Paul, she had a more than decent career of her own before meeting the popular magician. She’d planned to go into ballet and won a place at the Royal Ballet School before joining the Iranian National Ballet Company in Tehran.

Her life changed when she met Paul in his 1979 summer show in Great Yarmouth, though at the end of that gig she went back to her life as a dancer. A year later, the two worked together again in his London stage show It’s Magic, which opened on December 10, 1980, and which, by the time it closed 14 months later, had become the longest running magic shows ever to play in the West End.

Debbie rose to national and international fame as the magician’s glamorous assistant as the Paul Daniels magic show regularly attracted audiences of 15 million in the UK and was sold to 43 countries.

Famously, Debbie appeared on comedian Caroline Aherne’s talk show The Mrs Merton Show in 1995. Caroline’s character Mrs Merton asked Debbie, ‘what first attracted you to the millionaire Paul Daniels?’, a joke which a poll later ranked as Britain’s second-best one-liner.

The couple later joked about the quip, with Paul saying ‘when Debbie and I got married, I certainly wasn’t a millionaire and the other funny thing was Caroline had just married a millionaire so we thought that was hysterical’.

Calling the continuing popularity of the joke ‘lovely’, Debbie credits the appearance on Mrs Merton for kick-starting her own fame, saying “after Mrs Merton people started to really recognise me. It gave us great publicity.”

Debbie appeared frequently on TV, from The X Factor: Battle of the Stars to Saturday Night Takeaway, Wife Swap and Come Dine With Me. And then her soulmate died. It left her shattered.

She immersed herself in work, most notably Strictly, and remains much cherished.

“There’s loads in the pipeline going from now until after Christmas. Delicious Christmas is coming soon, which is for the BBC, and there’s also a game show. I’m really lucky, nearly every day there’s something offered. Even since Paul died the phone hasn’t stopped and since Strictly it’s been even busier. I love my work.

“But even though I’m ambitious and love my career, the most amazing points in my life have been family things.

“If I had to pick a career highlight though it would be winning the Golden Rose of Montreux for the Paul Daniels Magic Show. The BBC hadn’t won it for 20 years. Paul and I won gold and Paul also won bronze for his Spitting Image puppet.

“The fact that the Paul Daniels Magic Show got so many viewers was incredible, it had far more than Strictly. We’d be top of the ratings all the time. We had the first Christmas Special to knock Morecombe and Wise off the top spot. Paul won quite a few lifetime achievement awards in America too and we won one between us from Hollywood Magic Castle. At that point, our lives were totally work. It was manic. We did a lot of charity work and met sick children. Other than that we hardly had time to see our families. We’d try to catch up every other Sunday. We were flying from the seat of our pants.”

Memories can wait for now, however, as Debbie turns her attention to panto. She’s met local star Doreen Tipton and the rest of the cast and can’t wait to get cracking.

“I’m really honoured to be working for Qdos, who make the show. They’re people I’ve wanted to work for and the opportunity came about because of Strictly. I know their panto productions are fantastic. I’ve met the cast and they’re all really talented people. I can tell you, in my bones, I can’t wait to get going. We’re all going to have a ball.”