BRIAN McFadden might have spent a vast amount of time in front of the camera, as one fifth of Westlife and as a solo performer, but he still feels uncomfortable when the spotlight's on him.

So he's making a concerted effort to get in shape ahead of his new presenting job because, as everyone knows, the lens adds a few pounds. "It does, and especially now there's HD [high-definition]," says the 34-year-old, who's looking trim thanks to daily workouts with a trainer. "I don't go to a gym but I do go to the park every morning, and do a lot of toning and conditioning."

The reason for his efforts is new dating show Stand By Your Man, which he's co-hosting with Laura Jackson.

"I'm over the moon to host it," says McFadden of the show, which sees four lads compete to win a date with one of 40 single girls from the studio audience.

"Dating should be fun and exciting and I'm looking forward to creating some compatible matches, fingers crossed!"

Though he's rarely single, McFadden's experienced his share of relationship ups and downs.

Following his split with Kerry Katona in 2004, two years after they'd wed, he dated Australian singer Delta Goodrem. The pair got engaged in 2007 but split in 2011. He's now happily married to Irish DJ and reality star Vogue Williams. They tied the knot in Florence in 2012 and now live in east London, where they're often spotted walking their dog.

"We solve the world's problems when we walk," says McFadden, who was born in Dublin. "When we want to chat, we go for a long walk, and sort everything out.

"We have a lot of fun," he adds. "To be able to spend every day of your life with your best friend is great. We're not the kind of couple and go out on boys' and girls' nights. We like to do everything together."

McFadden has two daughters - Molly,12 and 11-year-old Lilly-Sue - with ex-wife Katona. He's keen to have more kids he says, though not yet, but the move to London means he's a lot closer to Molly and Lilly-Sue now - something he cherishes since, for a while, he was spending stretches in Australia, as a judge on Australia's Got Talent.

The show was a good fit for a man who's experienced the highs and lows of the entertainment industry.

McFadden was only 18 when he auditioned for Louis Walsh's boy band Westlife. They sold more than 40 million records worldwide but McFadden left in 2004.

"We're all still good friends. You don't go through what we went through and not talk to each other," he says, before recalling the relief on walking away and regaining control of his life again.

"I enjoyed myself for a good year solid. You have to remember, in Westlife we were working 365 days a year, so we never had any time off. I think I was just enjoying my freedom [after I left]."

He was also "drinking too much" but, ironically, he began looking better than he had in years after losing weight.

He now credits his wife for cooking up nutritious dishes in the kitchen. "Vogue cooks dinner every evening and she tries to cook as healthy as she can."

TV cameras aside, there's another reason McFadden's looking after himself. He's signed up to star in the final arena tour of the musical The War Of The Worlds and wants to be fit when it begins in November.

"The first night is going to be weird because I've always wanted to see the live spectacular, so to be part of it is going to be strange. I'm going to be standing there looking at the stage all night, admiring it all," he says, laughing.

The touring doesn't bother him, as he's been on the move since he was 18, though the thought of energetic performances day-in, day-out for weeks is daunting, he admits.

Westlife were known for doing little more than standing up from sitting during perfor-man-ces, while Mc-Fadden's solo tours weren't more active. "Mostly I was just standing there with a guitar," he says.