'I don't do panto for the money, I do it because I care'

TV presenter and actor Jonathan Wilkes has been making Christmas audiences laugh, clap and cheer in pantomime at the same theatre for two decades.

Since 2005, he has appeared in all but one of the festive shows staged at the Regent Theatre in his home city of Stoke-on-Trent.

And the 48-year-old, who launched Soccer Aid with his long-term friend Robbie Williams in 2006, is showing no signs of stopping anytime soon.

"I'm telling you now, I will stop doing it the minute I stop caring, but right now I've got more fire than ever," he told BBC Radio Stoke.

The 2026 production, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, will mark Wilkes's 20th panto at the theatre and 21 years since his first appearance.

He has only missed the 2011 edition of Aladdin, in which Joe Swash starred, and there was no show in 2020 due to the Covid pandemic.

This year, Wilkes will be playing Muddles, performing alongside Kai Owen as the Man in the Mirror, Rebecca McKinnis as the Wicked Queen, Ope Sowande as the Prince and Carly Burns as Snow White.

Wilkes said: "Without blowing our own trumpets, the main reason why the Regent Theatre works for panto is because we care. That's what it comes down to.

"I know how much it means to that family who come to the theatre, who pay a lot of their hard-earned money."

He said the Regent could get other big names involved but they would not care as much.

"I sometimes say this to the audience – go out and watch another panto," Wilkes continued.

"Come and watch ours first but see how much passion we bring compared to other people who turn up and go 'well I'm getting paid at the end of the day'."

Wilkes said he was "genuinely" not bothered about the money and just wanted people to "come and have a blooming good time".

"There's nothing nicer [than] when you come out at the end of a show and you see kids, grandmas, grandads, mums, dads [all] smiling - you cannot pay for that."

For Owen, it had been an "unreal" experience since he first got involved with the theatre's pantomime 12 years ago.

He said this year's production would be "magical" and described Wilkes as the "best in the business".

"Nobody cares as much, he's the ultimate professional," Owen added.

"I do it because of him. I've learnt everything because of him. He's our skipper, our leader - fact."

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs will be staged at the Regent Theatre from 11 December to 3 January.

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