JB mirror interview

IT'S a big day for John Barrowman. His character Captain Jack will form part of a shocking plot twist in the finale of Doctor Who and the actor will take to the stage at the nation's largest gay festival.But as one of the hosts at today's London Pride in Trafalgar Square, John has something shocking to reveal to us, too.In an exclusive interview he tells us that although he is committed to his partner of 16 years, architect Scott Gill, there's one woman who could turn his head - This Morning's Fern Britton.Advertisement"She's gorgeous, I love her to death. Fern could have me in a second," he says."I think larger women are sexy. They're not so worried about staying thin and they hold themselves a lot better."But before all you ladies get too excited, John reveals he would only have sex with a woman to give his husband a child.John, 40, married Scott last December in a civil partnership ceremony in Cardiff.And now the loved-up pair are considering becoming parents. "One day I might want to have children and in order to have a child, you either do it artificially or you have sex with a woman," says John.AND you can never say no to anything. I do have a couple of very good friends who have said: 'If you want to do it, I'll be happy to do it.'"So I could possibly have sex with a woman but it would be for a reason - to procreate, not for sexual enjoyment. Unless Scott was involved - and then I could have my cake and eat it."Ask him if Scott would mind him sleeping with a woman and John leans in conspiratorally and whispers: "Actually, Scott said he finds it a turn-on to think of me being with a woman. This is where I get into trouble - I'm pretty honest!"But what John's not so convinced about is his position as a sex symbol.With his sparkling blue eyes, smooth, tanned complexion and pearly white smile, it's easy to see the appeal. "Am I a sex symbol?" he says. "I don't think that. I still see myself as John. But if I am a sex symbol, I think it's fantastic because I'm sexy then to a very diverse group of people."I've got gay men, women, young girls - and I mean over the age of consent, of course - and then there are my fans who are younger who think of me as a hero."And that hero is Captain Jack, who first appeared in Doctor Who in 2005, when Christopher Eccleston had the lead role.He came to a sticky end during a Dalek attack and it was left to Rose Tyler, played by Billie Piper, to save his life.The flamboyant rogue then went off to form Torchwood - a late-night spin-off show where Captain Jack heads the Cardiff branch of the fictional Torchwood Institute, investigating paranormal behaviour.While John hates being referred to as a "gay actor" - "I'm an actor who is gay" - he feels privileged to be a gay role model.Many fans have written to him for advice on coming out. And he will always write back personally.Scottish-born John, who developed his American accent when he moved to Illinois at the age of eight, realised he was gay when he was nine years old but he feared he was wrong to have such thoughts about other men.In high school, he dated a few girls, but says he was just going through the motions of what was expected."It was more like friendships and going out with someone because everyone else did," he says. "There was Marilyn, who remains one of my best friends. She knew I was gay and I knew I was gay but I was protecting her from all the guys and she was protecting me from the guys and the girls."I'm not going to be a prude, we did do stuff but we never did the full thing. It was never anything I was into or passionate about."BUT although his parents, John and Marion, were supportive when he came out at 21, many in the local community weren't."One of the reasons why some families are afraid of when their children come out is because they're afraid of what other people think," says John, who flies his parents over to the UK to visit every three months."My parents had that, they had people say things about me. They got to the point where they weren't going to stand for it anymore. They ended a friendship of 16 years with these people who knew me very well. I'd wined and dined and entertained them, as they had with me."It's not that they were mean to my face but, after a few drinks, they made comments about putting us on an island and blowing it up, and they'd say words like 'fag'. It doesn't hurt me but this hurt my parents."They actually debated leaving their religion because their sect of the church was debating whether to allow gay ministers and if they had decided not to have gay ministers, my parents would have left."John believes there is still a lot of homophobia in the US."In the UK, we're more European in our outlook but in the US, oh my God, we're sinners, we're going to hell," he explains."How Christian is that? To tell someone they're going to hell because they're in love with somebody."But in Captain Jack's world, there are far more pressing issues.He returned to meet the new Doctor for the final three episodes of this current third series and we saw Captain Jack last Saturday in the clutches of the evil Master, played by John Simm.It's looking like an impossible situation for him and the Doctor (David Tennant), who's been turned into a helpless old man by the Master.Their only hope is the Doctor's assistant, Martha Jones (Freema Agyeman), who has escaped to drum up a resistance force.One thing's for sure, Doctor Who fans are set for an explosive series finale tonight. "It's going to leave every single Who fan absolutely speechless," says John, who's barely able to contain his excitement."There's going to be a huge revelation, not just for the Doctor, but also for Captain Jack. It's just going to be, like, OH MY GOD!"I wish I could have a satellite over the UK at that moment, when that sequence is revealed, to just hear whoosh... silence."As to whether Jack will be back in the fourth series of Doctor Who, which starts with the Christmas special, we'll have to wait and see."If I'm asked, then I'd gladly go back at the drop of a hat. I don't think we've seen the last of Captain Jack - but that's just my personal opinion."DOCTOR Who: Last Of The Timelords, is on BBC1 tonight at 7.05pm. I hope everyone who's going to Gay Pride today has a fun and safe time!