Ben Freeman talks to Viv Hardwick about how he’s revived his career after spending two years facing a rape charge in Barbados.

OKAY, so we know where Ben Freeman, the former Emmerdale ladykiller, stands in terms of casting when it comes to new musical Dreamboats And Petticoats… but eight months ago his career was at its lowest ebb.

Freeman, 29, endured a trial for rape, for which he was found not guilty, in Barbados after 12 months of not being able to work because of the legal proceedings.

Along the way he was forced to quit his ten-year role of Scott Windsor in Emmerdale. Now he says: “It was nice to get back into the industry and do something different. Over the last couple of years I’ve been stopped from doing anything. Now I’m having the best time of my life and I couldn’t be happier.

I’m sure all things happen for a reason and whatever happened later, I had an amazing time with Emmerdale.

“A lot of people come up to me after the show and say ‘congratulations, we’re so glad you’re working again’. I’ve never worked with a live audience before. As soon as the court case was over I spent a couple of weeks with my family and started auditioning again. I was lucky I managed to find work again quickly,”

says Freeman, who admits he couldn’t have worked for the 12 months before the court case because he had too much on his mind.

“I’ve learnt from what’s happened and grown up a bit… who wouldn’t after an experience like that,” he says.

Currently he’s dating Dreamboats And Petticoats co-star Jennifer Biddall, who played Jessica Harris in Hollyoaks, and is preparing to take the show into the West End’s Savoy Theatre.

“We were really good friends from the start and after working together so closely our relationship developed,” says Freeman who claims he’s determined not to let his two-year ordeal, after allegations were made against him in 2006, have any impact on his future.

ON the West End run, Freeman adds: “I think that the producers are happy with the way the show’s been going. A couple of songs will be replaced, but I can’t see how it’s not going to do reasonably well. I think it’s all about creating the songs of the Sixties really well and we do that. I’m excited and quite nervous because it’s my West End debut,” says Freeman, who will have to relocate from Leeds to London for the run.

“We didn’t know until a few weeks ago we were going to the West End, but we’ll be there for at least eight weeks. I haven’t managed to sort any accommodation out yet. I might knock on Bill Kenwright’s (the theatre impresario and co-creator of the musical) door and ask to stop with him,” he jokes.

“He’s done a lot of rock‘n’roll musicals and he really believes in this one,” Freeman adds.

He laughs when I point out that his denims and sideboards character could probably make him an honorary member of Emmerdale’s Dingle family.

“I’m hoping I look a little bit cooler than that. Norman is quite a larger than life guy and I had a lot of fun in rehearsals with him, because Norman isn’t the most exciting of names these days. There’s always a slight bit of irony when he says his names,” he says.

The plot involves Norman and friend Bobby (X Factor contestant Scott Bruton) are competing for the role of band’s singer and for the hearts of adoring female fans until a girl comes along who is just as interested as them in rock‘n’roll.

Although Bill Kenwright and Laurie Mansfield based the show on a bigselling album of the same name, the musical is more than the traditional touring music-box. They recruited Birds Of A Feather creators Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran to write a script which brings back the days of Roy Orbison, The Shadows, Eddie Cochran, Billy Fury and Chuck Berry.

“I sing The Wanderer, The Great Pretender and Chuck Berry’s Let’s Twist Again and it’s a great feeling and these are the templates for any songs written today. It’s also a great story and all the songs are closely linked to the dialogue,”

says Freeman On Emmerdale, which he joined straight after starring in BBC1’s school soap Grange Hill, Freeman reveals that he is the world’s worst mechanic and nothing like his character Scott Windsor.

“I’m a dreadful mechanic. I’m pretty useless and my car’s back in the garage at the moment. It’s a bit sick and I have no idea how to fix it. I do still get teased about it. When the AA man came out and saw me at the side of the road he said ‘why can’t you fix it yourself?’, but I take that as a compliment that he thinks I am like Scott.

“My proudest moment in Emmerdale was getting the job in the first place and working with all these people that I’d seen on TV and the whole process of developing a character early on,” says Freeman, who admits he has the stage bug and will be looking at other shows in future.

For now, singing Halfway To Paradise seems highly appropriate.

■ Dreamboats And Petticoats, Sunderland Empire, Monday- Saturday. Box Office: 0844-847-2499 ■ Next season, the show tours to Darlington Civic Theatre, September 21- 25. Box Office: 01325-486-555