As Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat heads for Oxford with a cast drawn from BBC's Any Dream Will Do, NICOLA LISLE talks to local star Antony Hansen

Reality TV stars, it seems, never fade away - even the ones that get unceremoniously dumped by the voting public. They just bounce back, undeterred. Such is the case with Antony Hansen. The former Didcot schoolboy may have been ousted from BBC's talent show Any Dream Will Do in the third week, but his career has since been swinging along rather nicely. He's even become a bit of a heartthrob, if a recent online discussion forum is anything to go by.

Born in Southampton but brought up in Steventon from the age of 11, Antony was educated at St Birinus School in Didcot, and cut his musical teeth with Oxford Youth Music and the National Youth Music Theatre.

He was studying for his A-levels when he heard about the auditions for a new BBC reality show, in which Andrew Lloyd Webber would be searching for a star for a new West End production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. It seemed like an unmissable opportunity for the ambitious teenager, but he nearly missed out.

"When I found out about the auditions, they were closing in an hour - and I was an hour's drive away! So I phoned them and asked them to hold it open for me. I rushed down and just got there in time. I didn't have time to get scared or nervous - it was all a bit of a blur."

At 17, Antony was the youngest of the 12 contenders, and managed to survive the first two weeks, before being voted off in Week 3. He went on to study at the Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts in London, but earlier this year he was offered the chance to join the cast of Bill Kenwright's touring production of Joseph. Faced with the difficult decision of whether to finish his training or grasp what seemed like a dream opportunity, Antony chose the latter, and he joined the cast in February.

I caught up with him in Manchester at the beginning of May, just before he was heading off to the Palace Theatre for a matinee - one of an incredible 12 shows a week. How does he cope with such a gruelling schedule?

"A lot of sleep!" he laughed. "Actually, I've developed insomnia since starting the show, and I just lie in bed watching films, trying to switch off."

A year on from Any Dream Will Do, Antony accepts that he wasn't quite ready for West End stardom and has no regrets about his early exit.

"It was probably the right time for me to go because I feel I needed a bit more training. I realise now that I'm doing 12 shows a week that I wouldn't have been able to play Joseph last May. But every day that I was in the show was unbelievable."

Antony has been playing the role of Napthali, one of Joseph's brothers, in the touring production. But when the show opens in Oxford on Monday, he will be taking over the more eye-catching role of the Elvis-impersonating Pharaoh.

"I can't wait. All my family and friends are coming, which is a bit daunting, but, hopefully, I'll put on a good show."

As well as doing Joseph, Antony is part of a new boy band, Dream On, which was launched by Bill Kenwright in February, and includes some of Antony's fellow Any Dream Will Do hopefuls - Craig Chalmers (who is starring as Joseph in the touring production), Lewis Bradley, Chris Barton and Chris Crosby. A self-titled album was released in February, consisting of 13 tracks of pop covers and show songs, including Any Dream Will Do and Close Every Door from Joseph, as well as the title track, which was written specially for them. To publicise the album, the group performed in a sell-out concert at the London Palladium.

"It's been really good fun, getting experience in the recording studio and going to premieres," Antony said. "We've got a single coming out in June and we're doing some summer concerts."

As for the future, Antony has his sights set high.

"I'd love to be the youngest Phantom in Phantom of the Opera and, as I get older, I'd love to play Galileo and Valjean in Les Misérables. I also really want to break into television. But I'm not closing any doors, to quote from the show! I'm still only 18 and I'm trying to become a more rounded performer. The world is my oyster!"

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is at the New Theatre, Oxford, from June 2-7. Tickets available from Ticketmaster on 0844 847 1585, or online at www.NewTheatreOxford.org.uk. The album Dream On is on the Bill Kenwright label. The single I'm into Something Good is released next month.