THE legend goes that when they were filming classic British comedy The Full Monty in 1997 the cast only did the final strip for real once.

Heading up the cast of the touring West End live show, Gary Lucy has completed the final scene more than 80 times – and is set to do even more before the tour ends in May.

“It feels weird now if there’s a day when I’m not flashing to 1,200 to 1,500 people,” he laughs, only days after his wedding to long-term girlfriend Natasha Gray.

The play is penned by screenwriter Simon Beaufoy, who was nominated for an Oscar for his original Full Monty screenplay and finally won a statue in 2009 for the Bollywood-style romance Slumdog Millionaire.

The Full Monty tells the story of a group of enterprising unemployed former steel workers, who put on a strip show to raise some much needed cash. To make their act stand out from the competition they rashly promise their audience their show will go all the way.

With many of his new wife’s family based in Brighton Lucy’s not too worried about his in-laws seeing too much of him when they come to see the show.

“There are clever lighting tricks,” he says. “It’s absolutely fine as long as you don’t fall out with the lighting guys!”

The Full Monty is Lucy’s first stage role – having made his name in popular TV dramas Hollyoaks and The Bill.

“To play the lead in this is a dream come true,” he says.

“I hadn’t made a conscious decision that I would only do television – it’s just how things worked out.

“I’m really lucky – I have a great group of guys around me with different levels of experience. Some have spent a lot of time on stage, one guy is quite new and brings his own raw quality which is amazing.”

Lovers of the movie will find the characters and situations familiar – although Lucy says the play goes into much more depth.

“Each character has their own struggle and story,” he says. “The play is a real journey for everyone. It’s touching, but you’re also laughing while you’re watching it.”

One of the biggest challenges has been dealing with the choreography.

“We did a week of dance rehearsals in Manchester with a fantastic choreographer Ian West and Roger Haines who is an award-winning director,” says Lucy.

“Fortunately we don’t have to be great dancers – we can get away with it as long as the final strip scene all comes together.”

It’s certainly not akin to Les Dawson playing piano that to dance badly you must know how to dance well.

“We can try to dance well but it still looks bad,” says Lucy. “That’s my kind of level!”

Although the play is set during the recession of the 1980s and early 1990s – following the closure of Sheffield’s steel mills – Lucy says its themes are still relevant.

“In certain towns audiences remember the times we are talking about,” he says. “In other places people are going through similar struggles today. It has a real broad appeal – it touches a lot of people.

“I remember growing up through the recession of the 1980s and hearing things about what was going on. With the play you really appreciate what they were going through.”