Interview: Lesley Garrett talks tours and a new direction for opera ahead of Wolverhampton Grand Theatre date

When the cheery voice of Lesley Garrett CBE chimes down the phone, it's like talking to an old friend, despite the fact we haven't met before. "You've been a bit busy today I think, haven't you my love?" she asks kindly, checking how we are.

The warm Yorkshire soprano is a delight. There are few classical stars that have become household names, but Lesley is definitely one of them thanks to her appearances on shows like Loose Women and Strictly Come Dancing.

It's hard not to like the 61-year-old singer, with her matter-of-fact honesty and playful wit. It's no wonder that her show, An Audience With Lesley Garrett, is so popular.

"I'm making my debut in Wolverhampton. I don't think I've even been there before so I'm excited!" she says hopefully. She's heading to the Grand Theatre on November 26 for an evening of reminiscing, chats and song, and tells us a little bit about it.

"It's part of my autumn tour so I'm looking forward to getting stuck into it after the summer. We started doing the Audience With shows and they were so popular that we extended the tour into this year. They're very intimate, lovely, friendly evenings that are very much about audience participation.

"We also invite the audience to ask questions and to give me their ideas about what I do. Sometimes they even come up on stage and I give them impromptu singing lessons. And often we ask them to choose a song for us to do, and they're just lovely, warm, friendly and chatty evenings. For me, it's all about meeting people, talking to them, music and fun!"

Her amiable nature is in her blood – despite her success, she's not one of those celebs that hasn't got time for her fans.

"I can't imagine being standoffish. I've always loved communicating with people, for me that's what music's all about. It's about communicating and fundamentally, it's about sharing. Good times, bad times and interesting times. Music is the one thing we can all rely on and one thing we all have in common. I love to hear my audiences' experiences and what songs are important to them. It helps to inform me and it makes me into a better artist."

We wonder whether that can come with its own problems though – doesn't letting people into your personal thoughts and feelings leave you open to negativity?

"I don't find it a challenge, I suppose that's why I was so comfortable doing Loose Women. I think life is all about sharing experiences and helping one another, I've got a real community spirit. I grew up in South Yorkshire in the bosom of a very warm family and we were always in and out of each other's homes. I was part of a lovely, warm working class community. My family were all miners, railway workers and steel workers when I was very small, and that's stayed with me always. I've never been posh, in a nutshell. I wouldn't know how to do that."

Lesley doesn't see herself above her fans. "I've always tried to be non-judgemental and take people as they are, and I hope that people treat me the same. I think I've gone through life believing in people, no matter their background. None of us can help where we're from and I see myself as a normal working person. I relate to people who are like that."

But she's been really successful – bagging a CBE for services to music in 2002 as well as a great number of outstanding performances, tours and albums. She isn't bragging, but she does think it's important to talk about it with her audience.

"People like to hear the background to a success story, and I think they want to feel that it's possible for them. I want to share that, because I've had good luck and I'm happy to share that with people. I've been inspired by the achievements of others and I think I can help people by explaining how I've overcome adversity and challenges in my life. Like everyone, it hasn't always been plain sailing for me, and I have had some set-backs. But we have this expression in Yorkshire, 'spit on your hands and take a fresh hold'! It's a war expression and it's something my mum said to me once. I've always remembered it. 'Start all over again' could easily be my motto!" Lesley laughs, breaking into 1936 song Pick Yourself Up.

Singing is Lesley's true love, but she's had to diversify over the years. "I must admit, I do like trying different things, although opera is my first true love. When the kids were small I decided to take up other opportunities that were coming my way. So I diversified and began to do television and recording work and tour concerts like the pop singers do. I always wanted to tour my album because I thought that was a great thing to do. I ended up on the West End doing musicals too.

"Opera takes a great deal of dedication and concentration and if you've got small children, as I had at the time – they're only 15 months apart – then the demands of opera are too great. So I did other things for a while. My children have just left university in the last three years, so it's been a chance for me to get back into the very demanding and wonderful art form that I love. And that's how I eventually ended up cleaning toilets!"

Lesley is talking about Pleasure, the innovative new opera in which she plays the very un-glam role of a toilet attendant.

"Pleasure is a wonderful opera by Mark Simpson that was written especially for me! I'd been banging the drum for roles for older sopranos, because there are very, very few. Traditionally, we didn't exist. After the menopause, most women would lose the top notes of their range and their voices would drop. Most roles for older women tend to be for mezzos and to be honest, they're quite often bad ladies or witches! So I said 'look, with the wonders of HRT, us sopranos are singing into our 60s so you absolutely have to write some roles for us'.

"I was making a case for roles for powerful older women as well. Society has changed from the times when opera was traditionally written. We've now got women who are captains of industry, and running countries. They need to be reflected in opera. Someone needs to write an opera about Christine Lagarde or Angela Merkel!"

Her call was answered by an award-winning opera company. "Opera North has always been my great champion and they came back to me and said 'we've got a role for you'. I asked what my role was, and they said 'you play a toilet attendant'. So I think 'oh, well there goes my Chanel suit! Hi-ho!' It turned out to be one of the greatest roles I've ever performed and I loved every minute of it. I can't wait for it to be done again, and I think it will be very soon."

It seems that opera is changing, and Lesley couldn't be happier about it. "We need something contemporary. We have to encourage young composers to write about contemporary issues because the youth of today aren't interested in what the kings and queens of yesterday did, they want to know about today's topics. So I was thrilled when they set Pleasure in the LGBT community and in a gay club – it was perfect for me. And we've been proved right, because the audience flocked to it and it was very well received. So I'm really hoping that this is a new direction for opera, to cast older fabulously glamorous and powerful women in modern and contemporary settings."

We say goodbye to Lesley because we don't want to ruin the Evening With. . . for ourselves. In it, she promises to divulge behind-the-scenes stories and anecdotes about her life on stage, from performing with the English and Welsh National Operas to performing with artists as diverse as Michael Ball, Andrea Bocelli and Lily Savage.

If our chat is anything to go by, it's set to be a lovely, relaxing night.

For tickets to An Audience with Lesley Garrett at the Wolverhampton Grand Theatre, call the box office on 01902 429 212 or click here.

By Kirsty Bosley