So, will this man make YOUR husband jealous? By Daphne Lockyer
He's got the looks to drive women wild, but Stephen Billington says he's no Casanova... all he wants is love in the old-fashioned way!
If best-selling author Jilly Cooper were to describe actor Stephen Billington, she'd probably write that he is, 'Tall, muscular, strong of jaw and tight of buttock, yet oddly tender around the eyes and mouth with the long sensitive fingers of a poet.'
Which is why Stephen beat hundreds of hopefuls for the lead role in the TV adaptation of Jilly's romantic novel The Man Who Made Husbands Jealous.
He is perfectly as Lysander Hawkley, a man so gorgeous, charming and irresistible that he makes all other males green with envy.
'Sometimes it just works that people see that you're right for the role as soon as you walk in the room,' says Stephen embarrassed at all the attention he's attracting. 'And I was just extremely fortunate it happened that way.'
Some might say that such a title role is a bit of a mixed blessing, rather like being named Miss World. It's the kind of label that elicits scrutiny, criticism, comparisons with other likely contenders and comments of the who-does-he-think-he-is? variety.
None of which occurred to Stephen when he agreed to play the man who woos neglected wives and makes love to them in order to enrage their cheating husbands and ultimately, save their marriages.
'You can either act coy about it or be completely arrogant and say: "Absolutely. I'm exactly the kind of man who would make husbands jealous!"' he jokes. 'There's no middle ground.' Though he's laughing, he's a sensitive creature, which is all very much part of his charm. He squirms at a recent newspaper article that described him as 'a hunk' and '6ft 2in of gorgeousness'.
'Maybe the guys who go on Blind Date have the confidence to see themselves that way. But I don't look in the mirror and think, "God, Stephen, you've very good looking". I see myself as an average bloke.
'The thing that makes someone attractive is so often what's beneath the skin. Which is why sometimes the best-looking people are the least attractive.
'What makes Lysander appealing is his boyish charm. He has a real affection for the women he beds, with a genuine love of women in general. He also has this completely guileless air, as though he isn't to blame for anything that is happening. I think his innocence is hugely attractive to women.'
He could be talking about himself. At 25, he, too appears boyish and a genuine lover of women. Like Lysander he has that aura of Nineties New Man - he could protect a woman from monsters and yet share her tissues at a weepy movie.
But Stephen insists that he's very different from the screen character. 'Lysander's a public schoolboy. I'm from a working-class family. I grew up in Lancashire and went to a comprehensive.'
He also views relationships in a very different way to Lysander. Stephen's now unattached and recently ended a long-term relationship that 'just didn't work out'. 'And I really wouldn't want to get involved in something else unless I thought that I could make something permanent out of it. I certainly don't see myself as the type to jump into bed with married women to help them win their husbands back. I'm a lot more judicious in my own life - a lot less willing to hurt and be hurt. I think that I'm looking for something very much deeper, because, in quite an old-fashioned way, I suppose I do want to fall in love with someone and know that it's forever.'
In a world of fickle emotions his desire for intensity adds to his allure - although he's not quite a monk yet.
'If I'm honest, and a beautiful girl came to me and said: "I don't want a relationship but I would like to spend the night with you", I probably wouldn't say no. But I am after something a lot more meaningful.'
His views on love stem from his happily married parents, Derek and Diana. 'They obviously love each other and they also love my sister Nicky and me a great deal,' he says fondly.
He's very close to his family and he recalls how disappointed they were when he gave up a career in hotel and catering to become an actor.
They said it wasn't a 'proper job'. So far, he's managed to prove them wrong. He played a young cavalry officer in The Buccaneers, before landing a role in Mel Gibson's Braveheart. He then took a leading role in Out of the Blue, playing Pc Alex Holder, before landing the role of Lysander.
Now, his parent have had a dramatic change of heart about his career and even appear in the series. 'They wanted to visit the location so I got them and Nicky parts as extras.'
His mum has even learned not to blush at her son's on-screen nudity and it's something that doesn't worry Stephen either. 'When you have your kit off from 8am until midnight, as I did one day, everyone gets very blasé about it,' he said. 'It's just an accepted part of the job.'
But Stephen's friends regard their mate's role in the romantic romp as a huge joke.
'When I walk through the pub door they shout, "Oh, here's the man who makes husbands jealous!" 'And then they all fall about laughing....I can't think why, can you?'