Dirty Dancing star James Coombes is having the time of his life!

James Coombes plays Dr Jake Houseman in the crowd-pleasing production.

James Coombes is unlikely to forget his lines when he appears on stage at the King’s Theatre in Glasgow over the next month.

That’s because the raucous audiences at Dirty Dancing often shout out the dialogue before the actors have a chance!

Not that the veteran stage and screen performer is likely to fluff his lines anyway.

With a CV that includes everything from Howard’s Way to High Road and Hollyoaks, the 57-year-old has experienced just about it all in the business.

So when he says he’s never seen anything like the reaction to the record-breaking Dirty Dancing, it must be pretty special.

“The crowd often shout out the lines before we can say them,” he smiled.

“It’s that kind of show, but as long as the audience enjoys it, that’s the main thing. I don’t think I’ll be in a show like this again.

“I read a statistic where something like 70% of our audience is coming to the theatre for the first time. We spend a month in each city and every night is sold out.”

Being in a city for weeks at a time gives James and the rest of the cast a chance to experience the area’s culture.

“It’s nice as you get to know the places and you can put down some roots. I do miss my family though, so I try to go home at the weekends.

“I’m really looking forward to Glasgow. I spent a lot of time going up and down the road when I was in High Road playing the Laird. That was a really nice experience.”

Another nice experience for James was replacing the long-standing Milk Tray Man, Gary Myers, for one of the iconic adverts in the late-’80s.

“When I did those adverts, we just had four channels and you weren’t able to fast-forward, so they had a huge impact.

“The one I did was filmed in Hollywood and was directed by Fatal Attraction’s Adrian Lyne. They were such iconic and visual adverts.”

James says the impact of the advert saw him granted an audition for Bond, which ultimately went to fellow Welsh actor Timothy Dalton.

“It opened lots of doors for me,” he added.

And the doors of the King’s will be thrown open again this month to cope with demand when Dirty Dancing makes a triumphant return from August 26 to September 20.