Jimmy Osmond is speaking to me from his home in Utah. "It’s not very big – it’s on a bit of land," he says. "Oh – and we have this really nice river running through it…" he says, almost slightly embarrassed. It’s quite apparent that Jimmy’s a humble guy. Self-effacing and terribly polite. Dare I say it? NICE.

Nobody likes to be picked at... But if you’ve got to be picked at, there’s worse things to be picked at for than being nice. I’ve known a lot of people in showbusiness and it’s really sad that the vast majority of them are not happy people. The people that I have found that are the happier people are the ones who know who they are, they’re comfortable in their own skin. If you keep looking at yourself in the mirror too much you aren’t going to be happy with what you see. You’ve got to be who you are.

I’ve never trashed a hotel… I don’t think I’ve ever even taken any soaps although there were these really fluffy towels once, I couldn’t get my case shut! Not really – I’ve never taken anything – I’d feel too guilty.

It’s quite novel that I’ll be home for Christmas this year... For the last 10 years I’ve been in pantomime in the UK, so I’m never home for Christmas. This year my eldest daughter Sophia will be home after her mission (the Osmonds have a strong Mormon tradition) and it might be the last time that all of us are together at the same time.

I never really had that much confidence... I’m not as good looking as Donny or as good a singer as Marie, but now I look back and see that without me our family picture wouldn’t be the same. I’ve had a wonderful life really. We should cut ourselves a bit of slack and celebrate what we have.

I’ll be singing Slade songs and all the regular ones in Margate... I still like to sing, although I produce the show too. I like the variety of all the things I do. It’s about the fun in doing things. I like the challenge of producing shows. And now nostalgia is kind of hot. We get all ages at our shows. This show is a safe place to bring your family.

I still get nervous... I feel the pressure every time. If you lose that you aren’t a good performer.

You don’t really know what someone means to you until they’re gone... I first appeared on Andy Williams’ stage (the American singer who died in 2012 was Jimmy’s mentor and friend) when I was only three years old. My brothers had been singing back-up on Andy’s biggest hits and had been regulars on his hit television series for years. It’s such a joy to carry on Andy’s legacy and continue his treasured holiday tradition. He has given me the rights to keep his legacy going.

It’s so hard to find clean comedians... There’s such a lot of shock humour these days. That’s why I love Jimmy Cricket. We’ve been on a lot of similar shows. I’ve always thought he was super funny.

THE OSMONDS: EXTRA TIME

The Osmonds are brothers Alan, Wayne, Merrill, Jay, Donny, Jimmy and sister Marie. Two older brothers George and Tom were born deaf.

Jimmy’s been married to Michelle since 1991, and the couple have four children: Sophia, Zachary, Wyatt and Bella.

All the Osmonds were born in Utah, except Jimmy, who was born in California.

Jimmy still holds the record as the youngest performer to have a No 1 in the UK, with Long Haired Lover from Liverpool, in 1972 at the age of nine.

Jimmy is one of three of the Osmond siblings to have solo careers – the others being Marie, who had a hit with Paper Roses at 13, and Donny, who had a string of pop hits including Puppy Love between 1971 and 1976.

DETAILS

The Andy Williams Christmas Spectacular stars Jimmy Osmond with his brothers Jay and Merrill.

It will be the first time the show has come to the UK. It is normally at the Andy Williams Moon River Theatre in Missouri, USA, which Jimmy owns. Special guests will be Irish comedian Jimmy Cricket and the Moon River Singers and dancers.

The show was at Margate Winter Gardens on Monday, December 14.