TONY Hart, Art Attack and now Mister Maker have helped inspire the paint-splattered fingers of generations of young TV watchers. The fact that the Bafta award-nominated driving force of Mister Maker, Phil Gallagher, started out as a sports reporter and presenter on radio, without any formal art training makes his nine-year domination of the TV crafts world all the more remarkable.

“I feel very lucky, because I love my job and now I’m doing this live tour as well. I’m nearly 40 and I still feel like a big kid,” he says.

“I was at university when I was on BBC Radio Kent and I had a great knowledge of local football and it was perfect weekend job for me. It was a way of getting experience of performing live and performing under pressure, particularly when you’re waiting for your gap on air. It set me down a good road,” he says.

He’s slightly late for our interview and is full of apologies, but laughs uproariously when I mention that he could have taken on his list of chats in the same way he tackles his Minute Make Time – a project Mister Maker has to complete against the clock. “I’d need the music playing in the background,” he laughs. “The idea for the Minute Maker came in the first series nearly ten years ago and became one of the main features of the show. The audience love it, but when it comes to practising for the show it is something that I work long and hard for, to make sure I get it right.”

Gallagher’s route to BBC TV involved a spell as a performer and puppeteer on Playhouse Disney plus spells with GMTV and as a Channel 4 voiceover.

“It was a case of starting at the bottom of the ladder and I sent off a showreel on VHS. I was fortunate enough on the Disney Channel to be given a chance to audition and being given a runner’s job. I got to make tea for people, paint the set and props and all sorts of different things. I was able to very slowly work my way up the ladder in Disney and then went to the BBC,” he says.

Gallagher thinks that his quirky and comedic approach caught the eye of producers and led to him being given the chance of becoming a comedy character for Disney.

“That led to Mister Maker. It’s an arts and crafts show but, very much, takes a colourful, slapstick and comical approach to the subject. It was quite a long audition process and I went through various stages and being tested and when I finally got the job it was the best day of my life,” Gallagher says.

He doesn’t mind people shouting “It’s Mister Maker” to him now because it shows that they are watching his CBeebies exploits. “The great thing about approaching 40 is that I’ve discussing the show with grown-ups and I really appreciate people’s support.”

On his own ability as an artist Gallagher doesn’t feel he could give Damian Hirst a run for his money . “Art is something that I’ve always loved to do since I was a child and I love making things, drawing and have taken part in arts and crafts with my granddad when I was little. The whole idea of the TV show is to encourage the Mini-makers, the children, and that it inspires them and the grown-ups,” he says. “It’s what I’ve hoped for on TV and for the live show.”

The main difference is that he can’t call for a retake if paint starts flying in all the wrong directions.

“We have to get it right on the night. I absolutely love pantomime and we try and bring a bit of that spirit to Mister Maker as well. We’ve created a really inter-active show and we get people up on stage and we like people to take part from their seats as well. I’ve worked really hard on the script and the plan because it’s a big technical affair with lots of lighting, video and audio cues and we know that anything can happen. I make things live on stage, so I have to be prepared for things going wrong as well,” Gallagher says.

Luckily, the paint and glue have gone to plan so far, “although I hope I haven’t jinxed myself now”.

“What I’ve decided to do this time is to make various things at the same time while singing. I’ve set myself a bit of a challenge. We also have The Shapes (Square, Triangle, Rectangle and Circle) who are a big part of both shows. They are so popular even though they're only a three-minute section of Mister Maker on TV, but they’ve definitely got a lot more to do in the live shows. We’ve also got a song-and-dance cast as well,” adds the man who has been appearing in panto since 2006.

When did Gallagher realise that he had a big future as Mister Maker?

“It’s one of things where I still pinch myself at the fact that the show is being shown in more than 100 countries. We never take things for granted and constantly work hard to put the best out we can, particularly when we have multi-channel challengers. You never know if the next show it going to be the last one. We have a team that works really hard to ensure that what we do is age appropriate,” says Gallagher, who youthfully dodges a question about how long he can continue a career as a children’s entertainer.

n Mister Maker & The Shapes Live! Friday, June 3, and Saturday, June 4. Grand Opera House, York. Box Office: 0844-871-3024 or atgtickets.com/york