"I could be a tour guide!" jokes Sam Bailey as she returns to the North East this week as part of the cast of Disney's Beauty and the Beast.
The singer, who is all set for for Thursday's opening night at Sunderland Empire where the lavish new production of the fairytale musical will run until February 19, knows the region well and she loves it.
Long before she shot to fame on winning The X Factor back in 2013, Sam, who was brought up in a musical family, played the North East in her early band days while more recent appearances have included Sage Gateshead and 2017's Newcastle Pride festival.
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Having a musical ear, she even finds herself picking up the accent.
"I mimic people - I don't mean to! My husband says 'you'll come back talking like a Geordie'. I pick it up really quick, she says, adding in a local accent: "What's it aal aboot!"
Local audiences can reaquaint themselves with Sam - even if they don't immediately recognise her in costume - in her role as Mrs Potts in the all-new production of the Olivier Award-winner show which reunites members of its original Broadway creative team and features musical theatre stars Courtney Stapleton and Alyn Hawke in the lead roles.
"The difference with this show is that the Disney magic is better than ever," says Sam.
The production has been redesigned and features state-of-the-art technology. Fom the "amazing illusions" to the set design, choreography and costumes - which include £24,000 worth of dress for Belle, points out Sam - it's is big, bold and beautiful.
Everything is lavish. It takes a whopping 23 trucks to transport it on its UK tour.
"And Be Our Guest is 12 minutes long," says Sam of the famous track from Disney's 1991 animated film which inspired the musical and is being brought alive here by the cast and dancers. "I don't know how they do it," she says, adding that she does a eight-second tap dance and is done in.
The East Londoner, a former prison officer whose love of singing developed into a hugely successful career on winning The X Factor in 2013, is herself transformed in her role as Mrs Potts, the head housekeeper of the Beast's castle who is turned into an enchanted teapot, while fellow servants Cogsworth and Lumiere become a clock and candlestick.
Not many people know that she's even in the show, says Sam.
Often they only realise when they're leaving and read the programme on the way out.
"It's a bit of a compliment really - they can't see me; they just see Mrs Potts."
Over the years the singer - who is set to follow up last year's new single Black Velvet with a version of Stevie Nicks' Edge of Seventeen, due for release on January 28 - has become known for a mix of musical theatre roles. Contrary to some rumours, she's never played Mrs Johnstone in Blood Brothers - although the role is on her wishlist - but stand-out characters are Mamma Morton in Chicago and Betty in Fat Friends - The Musical.
This time her role is a motherly one so it has, she says, "basically a bit of me in there".
"She mothers everybody and she kind of keeps the story going. She's the heartbeat of the show, constantly reminding people there's a spell and trying to keep people in check, although it's hard to do that with Lumiere and Cogsworth a lot of the time."
Sam, 44, has three "completely different children". Her eldest daughter, who's 16, is seemingly taking after her with musical theatre classes while her youngest, aged seven, is described as "exactly like me".
She's "feisty, funny and loud" while her clever 12-year-son, who has autism, is constantly teaching her new things.
Beauty and the Beast is the first of her shows to be suitable for them to see and for her youngest daughter it proved a defining moment - thanks to a simple change brought about by Sam herself.
She tells of an emotional conversation during early rehearsals when she suggested to Olivier nominee choreographer Matt West that the Disney 'powers that be' should think about introducing a lead character who wears glasses.
She had become upset while telling how her daughter, when told she looked like a princess, responded that she couldn't be because 'princesses don't wear glasses'.
Just a couple of days afterwards there were tears again all round - happy ones this time - when Matt informed her that, after discussion with Disney chief Thomas Schumacher, changes written into the show meant star Belle would put on a pair of spectacles whenever she was reading, including in the show's opening scene.
That was at the launch of the new show last summer and Sam recalls the delight of her daughter who after seeing the performance met her at the stage door and the first thing she mentioned was 'Belle wears glasses!'
There has been a similar reaction on social media. "We're getting so much good feedback from parents as children see it's acceptable for princesses to wear glasses," says Sam.
"It literally made my year."
In the run-up to Christmas, the Beauty and the Beast tour had reached Wales but then the run had to be curtailed when Covid restrictions there tightened.
The enforced break, as the cast were all sent home two days before Christmas, coincided with Sam's family getting Covid: first her husband, who was so ill he missed all the fun of the big day, then her daughters, while her son had to have hospital treatment for tonsillitis.
Amid all the stress, Sam escaped Covid herself and now, with tour resumed and awaiting opening night at Sunderland Empire, she says: "I'm so excited to be back doing it - and to be in Sunderland.
"It's such a lovely city and I love the North East."
She has kept tabs on the latest developments at St James' Park, as Newcastle United new signing Chris Wood is one of her friends.
Not many people know that Sam was a professional footballer for years and she remains passionate about the game, an avid supporter of her home team Leicester City.
"I'm friends with Chris and wished him all the best with his move," she says: "I said 'well done mate, I heard you were going to Newcastle.'
Wood was a former player at Leicester, where she has a season ticket, and she says: "He was great at Leicester."
She still takes part herself in celebrity charity matches, alongside the likes of Danny Dyer, often as the "token girl", she says, and nowadays it's usually more of a "managerial role" rather than on the pitch because "Mrs Potts can't get injured!"
She is loving her role and the chance to be out performing again is even more special given the past two years of the pandemic and lockdowns which saw shows cancelled and theatres closed for months.
That period for Sam was "bittersweet".
"Obviously I got to be at home and spend time with my family. We did arts and crafts and all sorts of things which was lovely but at the same time, at the back of my mind, was 'when will I work? When will I get to go back on stage?'
"There was no real end in sight - but I feel we're coming out of it a little bit now."
She adds: "2020 was a dark time. A lot of people in the industry stopped doing what they were doing and completely changed career - they got jobs with Amazon and in supermarkets and some have decided not to go back to musical theatre. It's heartbreaking.
"I was patient and stuck with it."
When she was finally able to step out on stage for the first time with Beauty and the Beast, on its launch night in Bristol, "everybody was in tears" she recalls.
"It was an emotional rollercoaster and everybody felt it - the audience felt it and we felt it."
Former prison officer, footballer, X Factor winner and musical theatre star, busy mother-of-three Sam Bailey certainly likes to keep things interesting and she has plenty more ideas up her sleeve.
Next she has plans for a new rock album inspired by her rock drummer dad and his love of the likes of Phil Collins and Don Henley.
Drumming is another of her skills that her fans may not know about and Sam has played since the age of six.
Now she hopes an upcoming album showcasing rock greats will "show a different side of me".
"It's all about adding strings to your bow."
Disney's Beauty and the Beast - The Musical runs at Sunderland Empire from January 20 until February 19. For tickets see here.
