LONG before Phillip Schofield presented This Morning he used to hang around with a puppet.

The TV personality entertained youngsters on CBBC's The Broom Cupboard between 1985 and 1987 with Gordon the Gopher as his co-star.

But little did he know that a Guildford School of Acting student was studying his every move.

Justin Fletcher was starting to write ideas for children's TV programmes and found himself drawn towards the pair.

He said: "I used to watch the likes of Brian Cant and Floella Benjamin on Play School and later Phillip Schofield and think I’d love to do that.

"They were big, big heroes of mine. I loved the interaction between Phillip Schofield and Gordon the Gopher.

"I started to think of my own special characters and when I was still at drama school I had 26 distinctive characters. When we did Gigglebiz these were characters I had always had, my own creations."

Since then the 45-year-old has also brought the CBeebies hits Something Special and Justin's House to the screen and is considered one of biggest icons of pre-school TV.

He is best known for Mr Tumble which he created in 2003 for Something Special, a programme for and featuring children with learning disabilities.

Justin added: "I’ve been so lucky to be able to do what I’ve always wanted and bring those characters to a wider TV audience of children and their families.

"We have a huge production team but I do get to have a lot of input which is important to me.

"We film all around the UK and I’ve been in the north west many times and even filmed in Warrington for Something Special.

"We have actually just finished filming series 10 of Something Special.

"I also really enjoy Justin's House. I like the live atmosphere and I've tried to use the old Crackerjack format to get the audience really involved."

The CBeebies favourite will be flipping on the Christmas lights switch tonight, Thursday, in the Old Fish Market. The free event starts at 6pm.

He said: "It’s going to be a great family party and I’ve got a lot of things planned including a massive Hokey Cokey that I want everyone to join in with.

"But I’ve also being getting plenty of songs ready and I’ll no doubt be doing a few impressions.

"It’s going to be a wonderful evening and I would love to see as many fans of Something Special, Justin’s House and Gigglebiz as possible. I love meeting everyone. I might even put on my special Christmas jumper.

"I’ve got loads of Christmas woolly jumpers but the best one has a massive Christmas pud on the front, that’s my favourite."

He will be joined by Britain’s Got Talent stars Misstasia, who will perform a string of Disney favourites, plus Warrington Wolves players and of course Santa and his Elves.

Also in line to make an appearance will be the cast of this year’s Parr Hall panto Dick Whittington who will perform an extract from their show.

Justin added: "I absolutely love Christmas although it’s a really busy time of the year for me.

"This year I’m in pantomime, playing Idle Jack in Dick Whittington in Reading, my home town, so I have to be super organised and do all my Christmas shopping and wrapping early.

"I’ll only get Christmas Day off, which I will spend with my parents. We always have turkey with all the trimmings and eat far too much.

"I have a big family of three sisters and a brother and we like to all get together every Christmas. It’s a magical time."

Justin said he vividly remembers going to Christmas light switch-on events himself as a youngster.

"There’s just something about Christmas that makes it a really special time of year," he said.

"We used to go as a family to see the lights being turned on and of course we always went to pantomimes.

"I do think panto is so important. It gets young people and children into theatres sometimes for the very first time and that’s really important."

He added: "We are going to have a wonderful party at Golden Square. I can’t wait to see Misstasia and I may join in with a few of their Disney songs.

"I’ll have to make sure I know the words to all the songs from Frozen.

"I’m not a football fan but I do like a bit of rugby, I’ve been watching some of the World Cup, but that’s not rugby league of course. It will be nice to meet some of the Warrington Wolves players.

"It’s going to be an exciting and really fun night. I hope to see lots and lots of people and families there, ready to have a great time and a really, really big party. See you there."

- Justin Fletcher switches on Warrington's Christmas lights tonight, Thursday. The free event starts at 6pm and there is also free parking and late night shopping until 9pm.

DAVID MORGAN