Britain's Got Talent winner Richard Jones is heading to Weymouth with a magic show with a difference. He joins Joanna Davis on the line for a chat to find out more.

MILITARY illusionist Richard Jones left even Simon Cowell struggling for words when he won Britain's Got Talent.

London-born Richard, who spent ten years serving in the Army, saw his life change drastically after he branched out into performing sleight-of-hand on the telly and ended up becoming the only magician to ever win the popular talent show in 2016.

Richard's stage show, coming to Weymouth Pavilion on Saturday, April 20, is called Escape and it shows how powerful magic can be, he tells me.

"A lot of people have asked me why it's called Escape, it's not about escaping strait jackets or anything like that.

"It's more about escaping the boundaries in your mind.

"Magic is such a strong thing and it's about creating a moment that shouldn't be possible.

"The show is based around stories and experiences I've had in my life which has helped me in a massive way and tries to show how powerful magic is and show it can be something everybody can connect with."

Escape also promises 'meaningful magic', 'classic mind-blowing tricks' and 'something unique and unmissable'.

This will be the second time Richard has performed in Weymouth, his first show here was in 2017 - and he has a special childhood connection to the resort, he says.

"A couple of years ago I did a great show with a great audience at the pavilion. I used to come to Weymouth when I was young and I remember when I came to do the tour last time, it was such a lovely sunny day I was able to go for a paddle in the water."

Richard's mind-bending magic saw him carry out the remarkable feat of becoming the first magician to take the Britain's Got Talent title in 11 years of the show being on air.

He said: "I think magicians and comedians were always going to have a significantly tougher time because of the short time you get to build up a story. There's the risk that after a few seconds the judges are going to 'budge' you.

"I know some magicians who are in it this year whose names I can't tell you but I know there's going to be a lot of magic."

The concept of talent and talent alone is one that Richard doesn't believe in, he says.

"In my opinion no-one is born really good at anything. I didn't start doing magic until I was 22 or 23.

"I'd been in the Army for a few years by then. I'd been travelling around the world a lot meeting new people and I'd always had an audience to test things out. It got bigger and bigger."

Richard attributes a lot of his success to the challenge of performing tricks for his Army colleagues.

He said: "When you have a roomful of 500 Army guys you have to win them over properly. And I learnt in life that once you win them over the Army will love and support you, I've had such great support from the Army and the military."

Are they a bit like an extended family, I ask? "Oh yes," he says.

He continues: "A lot of them are out there in the world and they don't get credit for it and you don't hear about what they're doing in the world.

"100 per cent I've learned a lot of life lessons from the Army. It has helped prepare me for being in the limelight and being on TV. Because I've done shows for people in the Army I feel like it gave me more confidence, going on TV for the first time."

And it seems as though the military provided the perfect preparation for the ultimate audience test - the Royal family!

"I've performed a bit for the Royal family," Richard humbly tells me.

"When you perform magic everyone is the same. Everyone relates to what you do. I've been all around the world performing and I've performed for locals in parts of the world where I was worried they might think it's dark magic or some kind of voodoo. I was a bit on edge. But they actually received me in the same way and they loved it."

There will be a chance for 10 lucky VIPs to meet Richard and see some close-up magic, and he's looking forward to meeting audience members after the show, he said.

And there's going to be one big moment in the show to look out for, he says.

"I'm going to do something in the show where throughout the show people won't know what it is until the end. They will realise it's been staring them in the face. It'll be a big moment that will suddenly click with everyone in the audience." Being on tour isn't easy, Richard says and it's always tricky for him to wind down after a show.

"I love being on stage and performing for people. It's hard to go from amazing moments with people who go to see the show, it's very tough to wind down when you're on a high. We move on to the next venue so there's lots of travelling and quite a lot of late nights."

Richard is pretty tight-lipped on who his magic idols are - but when pressed he selects the Stateside showmen David Copperfield and David Blaine. His favourite tricks are anything with 'wow factor' he tells me.

And as for what's next, that's pretty cloak and dagger too - "I've got some exciting stuff coming up which I can't say anything about just yet," he says.

Prepare to be intrigued.

*Lance Corporal Richard Jones - Escape, Weymouth Pavilion, Saturday, April 20, 7.30pm. Call the box office for tickets.