• Paul had a long run in the radio serial The Archers, playing Tom Forrest's adopted son.
• He has never ironed a shirt in his life and says he is hopeless about the house "because I've never lived on my own.  I lived at home with my parents until I got married and moved out to live with my wife."
• Paul plays golf off an 18 handicap and last week won a cup at his local course, beating the club professional.  Crossroads star Stan Stennett, who plays Sid Hooper, introduced him to golf.  Paul also plays squash to keep his weight down to around 13 stone.
• When he was nine he won a talent contest at a holiday camp in Great Yarmouth by dressing up as Al Jolson and singing Mammy.  The camp asked him to stay on for a season as an entertainer but his mother would not allow it.
• Home is a four-bedroomed detached house outside Birmingham, where he lives with Sheila, their two children, Justine 14, and Anthony 11, and two West Highland terriers.
• In between school and drama college he worked on building sites and as a washing machine repair man.
• He once sang with the Birmingham Schools Choir and later got to No 38 in the charts with a tune called Benny's Theme.  "Another eight places and I would have been on Top of The Pops," he says.  

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