THE man with the most famous six-pack in the music business is back. Peter Andre may have been out of the limelight for years but he has made one of the most high-profile comebacks in pop history.

The Harrow-born, Australian-raised hunk, who had a string of hits in the 1990s, faded into obscurity after a career that saw him singing on the soundtrack for Disney's The Little Mermaid as well as supporting Madonna, among other stars.

Then he appeared on I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here, on which he overcame a fear of spiders, landed a glamour model girlfriend, and won the hearts of thousands of viewers who lobbied Radio 1 to have his hit Mysterious Girl re-released.

Thanks to a campaign headed by DJ Chris Moyles, who received texts from more than 40,000 people demanding the song, Peter was finally back in the public eye.

While in the jungle, Peter struck came up with the lyrics for his new hit, Insania. Millions of viewers watched as he hummed the tune, and again people power reigned supreme: the single came out three weeks ago, his album soon after, and his tour began on June 15.

"I went back to Harrow a couple of years ago and saw my old house," said Peter, 31, the son of Greek Cypriot parents.

"I like to go back to my roots. I was born in Harrow and lived in Sudbury until I was about six or seven.

"That's a big part of your life, a lot of my childhood memories are from then.

"I'd love to buy a house here and have a house in the country, that would be great."

Peter said he was enjoying the hype surrounding him: the whole thing had been far bigger than he expected.

"I have been busy, but good busy," he said. "The single and the album are out, so I'm promoting them. It's all good. And there's the tour, that's where I feel I come alive, that's the icing on the cake."

He hopes Insania will prove he's more than just a singing six-pack.

"It has quite a simple melody, but the lyrics are about where we are headed technology-wise," he said.

"It's about technology being so good in one way, but taking us away from what reality is.

"In a magazine I read recently they said they didn't think the lyrics were good. They said I had written 'is it what we need or are we killing the scene', which doesn't make any sense, but it's 'killing the seed'.

"I read these things and I just laugh. I don't take it too seriously. It's like any artist, it's open to interpretation.

"I'm having a laugh and I don't mind a bit about criticism. Bring it on I say, give me some!"

The album, The Long Road Back, is billed as "feelgood summer pop".

Peter said: "I was really careful not to go too R'n'B or too anything, it's a kind of a blend.

"It's the kind of sound I grew up with, a lot of old singers. It's where I come from, it's my kind of music."

And what about working with his new girlfriend and tabloid favourite Jordan?

"If she was interested I would write songs for her," he said. "I've mentioned it to her and she said she would love me to write some stuff.

"As for doing a duet, we just laugh about it. We have never actually said we would, but you never know."

And the future?

"If things go well with the album and the tour I want to move on to the next album," he said. "I feel the impossible is possible.

"I know 99 per cent of people, including myself, thought making a comeback wouldn't be possible. But I did it and on top of that I went to number one."

He said that when he was asked to appear on I'm A Celebrity he thought he couldn't lose.

"It couldn't get any worse than it was and I thought it would be a challenge and would be fun," he said.

With the re-release of Mysterious Girl some said Peter was open to being labelled a one-hit wonder (he entered the record books for being the only singer to have the same song hit the top of the UK charts three times).

But Peter said the thought never crossed his mind.

He said: "It was a public request. More than 40,000 texts were sent in to request it so you can't be stupid, you need to give people what they ask for. And all the money was for charity."

Peter, who is looking forward to appearing in Watford, said concert goers should make sure they knew the words to the songs.

"I'm going to get one person on stage to sing," he said. "It's going to be a feel-good summer sound with a lot of audience interaction.

"It's going to be lots of fun."

Peter Andre is at the Colosseum on Tuesday. Box office: 01923 445000.