The reason for the chat (though it didn't sound like these two friends needed much of an excuse) was his recently announced 2025 tour - The Phantoms - which brings Lee back to the Hull New Theatre, where he was for panto in 2023/24, on 8 May 2025, coincidentally Gemma's birthday! It was great to hear a little more about this project - many of you will know, of course, that Lee's first West End show was Phantom of the Opera (a contract he had to give up to take part in Any Dream Will Do) and for this tour he will be joined by two former West End Phantoms (and Emily!) for an evening of musical theatre magic.
As Gemma mentioned - Lee's Instagram feed has been one announcement after another in recent months, so before The Phantoms gets to Hull next May, you can also see him and his band in theatres around the UK this autumn with his The Best Of Me tour, in this year's panto which finds Lee playing the Prince (of course!) in Sleeping Beauty at the Darlington Hippodrome and around the UK again in April/May 2025 for the rest of The Phantoms tour.
To sum up, this was a really lovely chat and you can hear it all here...
BBC RADIO HUMBERSIDE - GEMMA OATEN