We talk to telly's Benidorm star who is giving a glow-up to Beauty and the Beast panto at Chesterfield's new-look theatre

Jake Canuso – best known as the flirty barman Mateo in television’s Benidorm – has a great sense of humour and sunny personality, making him a beauty to interview on a beastly afternoon.

When asked why he hadn’t brought blue skies to Derbyshire, he said: “I decided that we’ve had enough of it, we’re going to have a little shower for a change, just for a few days, a week or two, right up to Christmas and the New Year. Jake laughed as he commented: “I’m the sunshine!”

He is cast as Gaston in Beauty and the Beast at the rebranded 1435 Theatre. His presence will make him the first star to appear at there since ithe venue closed for renovation four years ago. Jake said: “I’m very honoured and really excited. The town looks lovely and everyone has been so friendly, I feel that I’m very welcome here.”

In the best tradition of panto there will be a few tweaks to the familiar fairytale.

Morgan Brind, from Little Wolf Productions, said: “Jake as Gaston will be running the Suntana, in tribute to Benidorm’s Solana, which will be Chesterfield’s premier tanning lounge.

“Gaston isn’t too far off Mateo, he loves himself and it’s comedy territory that Jake does so beautifully. We’re trying with this version to very lightly reflect that idea of toxic masculinity which Gaston is a bit of a poster boy for. Because we want a good moral lesson for kids, hopefully by the end of it Gaston has learned the error of his ways.”

Jake said: “I love everything about pantomime – they are such fun shows to do. It’s a wonderful family experience, bringing everyone together and a great thing to do for Christmas."

Rehearsals for Beauty and the Beast will begin a fortnight before the panto opens. Jake said: “I quite like not knowing much about the script before it arrives – one thing I’ve learned over the years is don’t look to the original story for a guideline as it’s very loose.”

Panto can be unpredictable as Jake found out when he appeared in Jack and the Beanstalk in Bradford in 2016. He said: “I had a catsuit which was unforgiving and the Lycra just ripped, exposing half my bum!” His misfortune was comedy gold for fellow cast member, Billy Pearce, who didn’t let Jake – or the audiences – forget it!

Multi-skilling is a requirement for many panto performers and Jake said he will be doing a bit of everything in Beauty and the Beast, including breaking out some dance moves.

Jake, who lives in London, was a professional dancer who performed alongside superstars such as Kylie, Elton John, Spice Girls, Annie Lennox and Bananarama. He said: “I’m quite close to Emma from the Spice Girls and I’ve bumped into Victoria and David over the years. Annie Lennox still sends me a Christmas card.” Jake also danced for Princess Diana and Prince Charles at the Royal Variety Performance.

As the only cast member to appear in all 74 episodes of Benidorm, he is still recognised as Mateo even though the sitcom ended in 2018 after ten series. Jake said: “My train journey this morning was interesting. The lady who was the train conductor and her fiancee girlfriend who was doing the sandwiches got talking to me and have invited me to their wedding in Sheffield in January!”

Special occasions often result in requests for Jake to record a video message from Mateo. Jake said: “I would never do them as myself – people have asked me to do them as Jake, I find it really cringey. But as a character, I can do Mateo, I put on a black T-shirt, a badge and start with ‘Ola’.”

When Jake first said ‘Ola’ in the Spanish tourist resort where Benidorm was filmed, the location was very different from how it looks today. He said: “Benidorm was quite rundown. We fell in love with the madness of it but also the wonderfulness of the place. I love the fact that people go there to have fun – they can afford everything, they drink their beers, they do their karaoke, they go swimming in the sea. I’ve never heard anyone say they didn’t have a great time out there.

"When you have a one-hour commercial on primetime television, after the second or third year all the hotels in Benidorm started doing refurbs including the one where we filmed.”

Two years before he started filming in Spain, seasoned traveller Jake experienced the horror of the Thai tsunami which claimed thousands of lives. He said: “I was on the beach on a very small island when the crash wave landed. I managed to run up a tree just in time for a house to fly past me and then the tree got half knocked down by the pressure of the water. I was crushed under the tree, under 50m of water, pinned to the floor. The water above me was like a washing machine, underwater became the most peaceful place. I was then spat back into the water and struggling to hold on to what I thought were bushes but they were treetops.

"I lost various friends out there – I spent a week afterwards looking for them.”

*Beauty and the Beast runs at the 1435 Theatre from December 4 until January 3, 2026.