FIRST met Adele King when I was playing my first ever principal boy-type role in Aladdin at the Olympia theatre in 1983. Adele was playing Aladdin and I was playing her brother, Wishy Washy, and it was great to be working with someone of her profile and talent. I had done some TV and radio with her before that, but it was the first time I had a chance to work that closely with her in a singing and dancing capacity.

Adele was really very generous and helpful to me, and one thing I really learned from her was about attention to detail.

When I was coming into the business, there was amazing people like Maureen Potter and Twink to learn your craft from, and we don't really have people like them in variety or musical theatre these days. I feel that we get our talent from the man above, but no course or degree in drama can help you with the practical side of putting it across to the public, or getting the comedy timing right with your fellow actors. We all learned so much from watching Adele on stage, and she was always really generous with her time and lovely to work with.

The thing with Adele is that she is the consummate professional, and she is always great fun to work with. If you wanted to try something new, and it worked, she'd be delighted about it, but if it didn't work, she'd let you know that you were there to do a job so you'd better not f**k it up. You just knew that there was a side to Adele that you just don't mess with.

I remember making a late entrance on stage once, and she covered for me, but she ate the bejakers out of me afterwards. I apologised and when I went into the bar after the show, she had a drink waiting for me and everything was grand again. Adele was never one for holding a grudge.

Adele has a huge personality . . . she's really effervescent and she lights up the stage, and it's the same when she comes into a room. The show would always completely take off as soon as she came on, because she completely shone on stage, and her comic timing was second to none.

Even though the general public see Adele as an actress and performer, she's really talented in loads of other areas as well. She did courses in sugar icing decorating for cakes, and I remember being at a wedding for which Adele had made the cake and it was just the Picasso of wedding cakes.

When she was doing Celebrity You're a Star last year, she was so giving of her time to the contestants, to the point where I'm sure some of the contestants were wondering what she was on! The thing about Adele is that she applies herself 120% to every situation.

I think it's brilliant that she has her theatre schools running, because it demonstrates her great practical business organisation skills, and she's also passing her talents on to young children.

Adele has gone through a rough time over the past couple of years with the very public break-up of her marriage, and for someone who has been through so much, it's a credit to her that she has been able to get up on the stage and shine in her play Dirty Dusting this year, and the only reason people know about what's going on in her personal life is because the press are so interested in it. She's such a trouper, and under the circumstances, I think she's a super. . . trouper.

Adele is very honest, maybe too much so at times, and I don't always agree with everything she has said or done. I think she's a really good person though, and has been amazing to so many people over the Iyears. She's a fantastic mother, and it's hard enough to be a mother in this business and even harder when you're in the spotlight 24/7. Adele's daughters Chloe and Naomi are such lovely girls, and she has done an amazing job with them. They're a real credit to her and to themselves, and when you meet them they're always so polite and well-mannered, and greet you with such lovely smiles. They've never been one bit precocious, but I don't think Adele would ever have let them get that way either.

Adele is a real-animal lover and I was in her house last year, and she had dogs, cats and budgies everywhere, and they all came bombing out to greet her. She has such a caring nature, and I think her love for animals shows the lovely, human side to her. She used to have a dog called Jane years ago, and she is not always the best time-keeper in the world, so you might be waiting for her to arrive, when you'd suddenly hear Jane's bell coming up the stairs.

No matter where you go in the business, Adele's name always comes up, and people are always so complimentary about her . . .

not that I would hear a bad word said against her anyway! She's very thoughtful and always has a little gift for everyone at the end of a run, and last year, when we opened in panto, she sent in a big bottle of champagne with a lovely card and a beautiful sentiment written on it. Adele's an amazing woman, and I'm really looking forward to working with her again in the future . . . I don't know where many of us in the business would have been without her.

Joe Conlon is currently playing Buffy Poppins in 'Sleeping Beauty' at Liberty Hall from 15 December