Mr Sunderland still hadn't slept a wink. He had driven through the night to get to Blackpool but there was no time to waste in bed. It wasn't just excitement: he had to prepare for the competition.

The first stop was the solarium, Spartan. "When I'm white I look spotty, rundown and minging," he said, taking off his white shirt to reveal his already teak-coloured, tattooed chest - a quick manoeuvre as he had only buttoned it up to his navel. "Fallen Angel" read the nipple-to-nipple legend, inspired, said its owner, by the Dan Brown book Angels and Demons.

Mr Sunderland, also known as 24-year-old Danny Ellis, was in town to compete in the final of Mr Gay UK. This annual beauty pageant started life in 1982 as Mr Hardware, but has run under its current title since 1984. For years it was a mostly jokey affair, but since 2003's winner, Jarrod Batchelor, went on to compete in reality TV show The Games, it has started to be seen as a shortcut into showbiz.