“I reckon he’s got to be 45 now,” my wife said, more as a question than with any confidence.

“No, surely not - I reckon 42,” I replied, with the same lack of certainty.

It’s a game we find ourselves playing with increasing regularity as middle age creeps up on us, usually on the sofa when watching a terrible reality show.

But the setting this time was Dreamland in Margate, and the subject of our curiosity was noughties pop sensation Lemar, who made his mark in the first ever series of Fame Academy.

He took the stage last night as warm-up for fellow TV talent show star Olly Murs, and at the age of 47 (I’d guessed wide of the mark, again) still has the soulful tones that saw him rack up seven top 10 hits.

Among them were crowd favourites Dance With U and If There’s Any Justice - songs I remember my wife playing on repeat in her Fiat Punto when we were in our late teens.

But the huge crowds hadn’t filled the Thanet theme park to see Lemar - they’d come for Murs on one of the last legs of his 15 Years of Hits tour.

He opened with Troublemaker, and he quickly proved to be just that, risking the wrath of his heavily pregnant wife as he joked he’d just spent two weeks at home with her, so was glad to escape to Margate.

It was the start of a set list that did what the tour name promised, with hit after hit rattled off on the Scenic Stage.

Please Don’t Let Me Go, Thinking of Me, and Heart Skips a Beat were all rolled out, along with his latest single Save Me - its ska beat getting even the most reluctant husbands moving (helped by the £7.60 pints!).

A toe-tapping 80s medley – including The Proclaimers’ I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles) – landed well, as did a rousing rendition of Up, with backing singer Kate ably standing in for Demi Lovato, who had unsurprisingly given Margate a miss.

There was also a moving rendition of Dear Darling, which doubled as a tribute to the late TV presenter Caroline Flack - a close friend of Murs’ who took her own life in 2020 - with the crowd carrying much of the chorus.

He closed, inevitably, with arguably his biggest hit, Dance With Me Tonight, with the singalong finishing just as we dashed for the train.

In between songs, Murs had found time to have a little dig at “the media”, although I’m going to assume he didn’t mean KentOnline and was instead referring to the tabloids, who recently took a pop at his transformation from ‘dad bod’ to ripped 41-year-old.

“They don’t love me, but I know you do?” he asked the crowd, seeking reassurance they were more than happy to give him.

While my wife is the true fan, it’s hard not to be impressed by the fact Murs is still selling out huge venues - including the O2 Arena - 15 years after taking a punt on an audition, and while most performers emerging from TV talent shows have faded away.

And on the evidence of the smiling thousands leaving Dreamland, he’ll be around for a while yet.