THIS is the Bolton man designed to set women's hearts fluttering and their husbands jealous...in a new steamy TV drama.

Stephen Billington has been chosen from hundreds of handsome young hopefuls to play the lead role in an Anglia Television dramatisation of Jilly Cooper's best selling novel, The Man Who Made Husbands Jealous.

The 25-year-old former trainee hotel manager is seen in the three-part mini-series, starting on Friday, April 12, wooing neglected wives and enraging their husbands.

Stephen, who originally hails from New Barn Street, Halliwell, will be playing Lysander Hawkley whose talent for making husbands jealous by paying attention to their neglected wives, is marketed by his friend Ferdie.

In the drama, Lysander, who takes up residence in the picturesque village of Paradise, finds himself much in demand, and the placid pace of life starts to get complicated. It is all a long way from Stephen's days working on a management course with the Savoy Group at London's Connaught Hotel.

However, even then he would dream of becoming an actor. He told the BEN: "It's something that's always been in the back of my mind.

"When I was a teenager I wanted to be a rock star or an actor. When I realised I was no good at writing music I knew that acting was the more viable option. The problem was I did not know anyone who had ever been an actor and so I did not think about it in real terms.

"It was more a dream than anything. It was when I came to London to work and started meeting actors, that I realised they were only normal people like me.

"I decided that I needed to do some training and that the most proven route was drama school. I then went around all the schools in London watching the end of year productions and decided to try for the ones I thought were best.

"I applied to the Drama Centre near Camden and out of 700 applicants was one of 30 to be accepted."

Since that three year course Stephen has appeared as a young cavalry officer in BBC's The Buccaneers, followed by a part in a new BBC series, Space Precinct. He then flew for a role in Mel Gibson's Braveheart, and back to Yorkshire to star as a police constable in Out of the Blue.

In this latest series, former Bread star Gilly Coman plays a neglected wife who hires Lysander to make her cheating husband, Nicholas Ball, jealous. The drama is being made by Anglia Television Entertainment in association with Blue Heavan Productions. The producer is Irving Teitelbaum and director is Robert Knights. The series is written by Ray Connolly and Andrew Maclear and was shot in Hampshire. Stephen added: "It is odd to think that this mini-series will get my face seen by many people. I have never been in that position before. I am not in the game for fame, I am in it because acting is something I enjoy.

"I thought I would be right for this role and was obviously delighted to get it."

Stephen, whose mother Diane comes from Bolton and father, Derek hails from Preston, moved with his family to South Africa from the town when he was just three years old. They remained there until he was 11 and then moved back to Preston. These days Stephen's only contact with the North is when he visits his grandparents in Nelson and Preston.

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