I KNEW I was in proper showbiz company when Kiki Dee told me: “Darling, can you call me back on my mobile?

“This line is acting up.”

With nearly 51 years of singing under her belt, 39 singles, three EPs and 12 albums, Kiki is the very definition of longevity.

Of course, she is best remembered for duetting with Elton John on number one smash hit Don’t Go Breaking My Heart in 1976 and teaming up with him again in 1993 with a cover of Cole Porter’s True Love, which reached number two.

Warm and full of enthusiasm about returning to Dorset, Kiki tells me she loves Lyme Regis.

“It’s a great town. I’ve played at the Marine Theatre before and I think it’s wonderful. I’m a big fan of Dorset and have been reading Tracy Chevalier who has set one of her books in Dorset.

“I think she’s a really good writer,” she said.

Quite the Tracy Chevalier fan myself, I point out that Kiki would also enjoy Remarkable Creatures, Chevalier’s tale of Lyme Regis fossil hunter Mary Anning, who caused waves in the science world in the 19th century.

For her current tour with long-term work partner, acoustic guitarist Carmelo Luggeri, Kiki is stripping back a lot of her hits, performing covers and telling a few stories between tracks.

She said: “We have to communicate in an acoustic show otherwise there’s so much silence between songs. Carmelo does a lot of guitar tuning between songs. We do our own arrangement of songs and it’s completely different. We do Running Up That Hill by Kate Bush – we have a tendency to take stuff and turn it into something else.

“It seems to work. When we do Don’t Go Breaking My Heart we add pathos to it. A lot of people say it’s better than the original.

“I like to have conversations with people after the show and learn from them.”

Kiki and Elton John remain friends after all these years with the showbiz legend even missing Liz Hurley’s wedding to attend Kiki’s 60th birthday party in 2007.

She said: “We don’t really hang out. We do birthdays and I always send a donation to the Elton John AIDS foundation.

“Not many people have Elton’s lifestyle, we don’t share a lifestyle and we’re not likely to see each other very much.

“I know that if I ever needed him he would be there.”

Kiki has had her share of the lows – around 20 years ago she was diagnosed with cancer.

She said: “I was ill but I’m doing okay now. As long as I get enough sleep I feel okay. As part of this tour I’ve been doing three shows on the trot and any more than that would be too much.”

It was 1963 when Kiki, born Pauline Matthews, started out.

She takes a lot of interest in the changing face of the industry.

“I think we all have a different journey to go on. I would say to anyone starting out in the industry: ‘Don’t rush things.’ “I thought I would only have five years in the industry. I would say to people: ‘Stay true to the music and yourself and don’t take yourself too seriously.’ “When I watch X Factor and you see them and it means life or death to them to get through, it’s awful. It just means so much to them, I think in some ways it’s an advantage if they don’t win.

“Sometimes they will just be around for a while and it’s so young to have that rise and fall. I’m not saying it doesn’t work out for people but it doesn’t always,” she said. Multi-talented Kiki was nominated for an Olivier award for her performances in West End play Blood Brothers. She said: “I did nine months of it and there were over 1,000 performances. It was an amazing life experience and it was hard work.

“You have to give six months to a year to do something like that. I have been offered a lot of these parts, doing Calendar Girls or something like that, I have great respect for actors who are doing musical acting. I was offered things like The Bill but I have never done camera acting but just because I’ve done a show in the West End it doesn’t mean I know how to do camera acting.

“I don’t think everyone can do everything well. I think if I was going to do something like that I would want to be able to do it really well.”

On a typical day off Kiki likes to catch up on sleep and enjoy a good lunch.

She said: “I hang out with the people I love, I’ve got quite an eclectic bunch of friends.

“I don’t really hang out with people in the industry. I used to do that a bit more when I was in London but less so now.”

After finishing their extensive tour which will also take in the Tivoli Theatre in Wimborne, Kiki and Carmelo plan to keep working together.

She said: “We’re talking about a project with Britannia who are launching a new vessel and are talking to them about doing music on board. So we could find ourselves doing a bit of sailing...I’ll have to make sure I take my seasickness tablets.”

n Kiki Dee is at the Marine Theatre tomorrow.