Songwriters come and go. Every era has good and bad bands. I do think Westlife are a better band than say, the Bay City Rollers in the '70s. Production techniques are better now of course which helps.

I don't think you should blame the shows. Blame the record companies. They're the ones marketing this stuff. They've learned that a TV show can give you millions of pounds worth of advertising and marketing for free. They've become cleverer at marketing their acts. Will and Gareth are pleasant bubblegum pop but nothing more. Will is a bit more soulful but Gareth has the looks. I think they'll go down as novelty acts, like Whigfield or Yazz in the '80s. I don't think they'll have a lasting impression on the business.

God, no. Why? I find it weird that people are still surprised that I do that. Although I sell waffles now. We've gone a bit more upmarket and European. There's more of a Riviera vibe to Brighton now so I'm trying to move with the times! Paul McCartney has just bought a house next to Fatboy Slim's on the beach and you can often see Gary Numan flying his plane on a clear day. The thing is I have to make a living. I'm 45 now not 25. I still perform as David Van Day's Bucks Fizz from time to time but otherwise I need to do something to fill my days. The money soon disappears.

Oh yeah. I bet if the Spice Girls ran out of money, and they must be close, they'd consider playing Butlins because you're always hungry to perform. You don't turn down any offers. Actually I'd still like to get into acting. I always wanted to do it but I got sidetracked by the music thing.

Our main rivals were Bucks Fizz (David later joined the band and then fell into a legal dispute over the use of the name Bucks Fizz with rival Fizzer and founder Bobby Gee). A lot of the bands looked down on us because of our image. In fact, I think a lot of the bands on the Here and Now tour look down on us! I never took it that seriously. I was there to have fun.

(adopts dramatic voice) It was the platinum '80s, the era of excess and the name of the game was fame. Teenage transgressions. Failure was not an option we were materialistic and greed was good. I think we were propelled by Thatcher yes, For better or worse. By the way I'm working on a rock opera at the moment along those very lines, called Rock Bottom. I want to tour the provinces with it before coming to the West End.

A Mustang car. You do stupid things like that. I spent all my money in the '80s. You just don't think it's going to run out.

Well, we've had 13 years off from each other (Thereze now lives in Australia and is married with a family) so we've had a nice, long break! I think it will be weird for 5 minutes and then it will be fine. Hopefully we can get through it without arguing!

Oh yeah, loads! I think we broke up too early. We broke up the first time in 1982 and that was a big mistake. There was a deal on the table for America and I never took it that seriously. Maybe I should have.