Talking to Johnny Vegas about his TV show Ideal, Emma Pomfret finds the lager-loutish comic has a sensitive side.

JOHNNY Vegas - real name Michael Pennington - returned to the small screen last week in the BBC Three sitcom Ideal where he plays Moz, a small-time dope dealer with a soft centre.

Anyone familiar with the gobby stand-up persona of Vegas will be more than a little surprised to find when he's not on stage, he's a quiet, reserved and private man.

He said: "Johnny as a character is very confident, whereas I'm naturally a coward and I hate any confrontation, whether it's emotional, violent or political.

"I really am quite a private person. If I walk on to a set where I don't know people it's a good few days before I feel comfortable."

Also unlike his stage persona, who spends most of his time in the pub, the St Helens-born joker is a dedicated family man, especially when it comes to three-year-old son Michael Junior.

He said: "Having kids makes you realise your life's not all about you anymore, it's about somebody else, and yet you instinctively accept it and it becomes a real honour.

"If your kids can look back and say, I wouldn't choose different parents', you're on the right track. So I just hope I can create that kind of environment for Michael and myself."

Johnny may not be like his Ideal character Moz - who never leaves the Manchester bedsit he shares with his long-suffering girlfriend - but he feels for him all the same.

"I love the idea Moz is agoraphobic," he said.

"It's the only job in the world you can do from home other than packing catalogues.

"He's a sweet guy deep-down. I feel a bit sorry for him, he has all these so-called friends who aren't necessarily the ones he'd choose to spend time with."

He added: "Even though society in general looks down on what Moz does for a living, he's actually a very tolerant person in terms of other people's lifestyles and never seeks to judge anyone himself."

Taking into account the show's drug use and abuse-based content, it's understandable the real Johnny had initial doubts about the show. But once he'd read the scripts, he realised Ideal hardly glamourises stoner culture.

Johnny said: "As a topic, cannabis is something which hasn't really been covered before in a sitcom. It's a far more universal subject than a lot of people would like to think.

"A lot of the characters almost act as a warning against doing it anyway. They're not exactly normal members of society."

He added: "Some people are creative on cannabis but it just made me want to play Playstation and, 10 rounds of toast later, I'd suddenly turn into Moz.

"It's not a productive drug for me, whereas having a drink makes me put pen to paper."

From pot to pottery, Vegas reveals before comedy, he was a ceramacist. He even has a kiln in his garage and hopes to continue with his craft.

Ideal, BBC Three, Wednesdays at 10pm. Visit bbc.co.uk/bbcthree