Bad girls give Kelvin oche horror show; Soap hunk's shock at darts thugs.

Byline: LAURA DAVIDSON

Down-to-earth soap hunk Kelvin Fletcher looks perfectly at home dressed up to the nines at lavish red-carpet bashes.

But the Emmerdale star has different ideas about what makes a perfect night out.

He is happiest in his jeans at his local in Oldham where he grew up and still lives - just a stone's throw from his mum and dad.

But even he admits he felt a little out of place on his latest outing in his hometown.

His evening at the pub ended up as surreal as a sketch straight out of Little Britain when a fight broke out among the darts team - and that was just the women.

He said: "It was the oddest thing I've seen.

These women were chucking darts quite happily for most of the night but just before midnight it all kicked off.

"I'm not just talking about a few girlie scratches and hair-pulling - these women were throwing proper punches.

"It was definitely one not to get involved in. I sat back and watched the fireworks. The places I usually like are a bit rough but not as rough as that." Kelvin, 25, reckons he has the best of both worlds being part of the Leeds-based Emmerdale pack while remaining an Oldham boy at heart.

He shares a place with his younger brother Dean, 23, a barrister, and commutes daily from their flat for his shoots in Leeds.

He said: "I can't see myself moving from here - it's always been my home. Dean and me are like chalk and cheese but we get on great as flatmates.

"It's strange because I'm a wildchild and he's much quieter. He's the brains of the family, the only one to have gone to university. Our parents and youngest brother Braden, who's 20, live just along the road.

We're a really close family.

"I don't live too far from my mum so I can go round for home-cooked meals and get my ironing done. I know when I'm on to a good thing." A regular on Emmerdale since he was 12, Kelvin has grown from boy to man on screen and has had no shortage of female attention since his boyish frame made way for a more pumped-up physique to make the hard manual labour of his character's farm job believable.

These days, though, he's only got eyes for one lady, fashion buyer girlfriend Liz Marsland, 25. The pair have been an item for three years but have known each other practically all their lives.

They were childhood sweethearts at primary school then lost touch but hit it off when they met up a few years ago. Kelvin said: "I'm happiest when I'm with people who have known me for years. I just want to be a normal lad and not known as 'that bloke off the telly'.

"Liz and I have great history together. We have something quite unique. We even have the same groups of friends." He is coy when asked about plans for a wedding.

He laughs and says: "Don't throw in the wedding word yet. I'm happy as we are at the moment but I would like marriage and kids one day.

"My mum and dad have been married 26 years and there's nothing better than a close family but it's hard to come by these days. A family with two kids and a dog, however cheesy it might sound, that's what I want." Kevin's soap alter ego, farmer Andy Sugden, used to have similar simplistic dreams but it's all gone pear-shaped lately.

First, he was banged up for starting the fire in which he accidentally killed his foster mum Sarah.

On his prison release he took his frustrations out on girlfriend Jo (Roxanne Pallet) and lashed out in shocking scenes of domestic violence.

He's also had to deal with the death of foster dad Jack (Clive Hornby) and thrown in the towel in his custody battle for his daughter Sarah with the child's mum Debbie Dingle (Charley Webb).

Kelvin's about to embark on a dramatic storyline that scriptwriters hope will help redeem Andy and reinstate his Mr Nice Guy status after his recent Jekyll and Hyde antics..

He shows signs of a mental breakdown this week and it's looking increasingly likely he will lose the farm. Kelvin is determined to handle Andy's depression sensitively and has been working with Mind, a mental health charity, to bolster his performance.

He said: "It has to be sensitive. I'm slightly apprehensive and want to do it justice but I'm also excited to tackle something so big.

"The people at Mind helped a lot. They are at the sharp end of mental health and they're going to hook me up with people who have been through these issues.

"This is not something Andy is going to just bounce out of. It will be a long, gradual process, as it would be in real life, but I'm looking forward to the day when we see chinks of the old Andy coming back." Kelvin says it's been stressful filming the scenes showing Andy's mental deterioration so he likes to escape at weekends by indulging in his favourite hobby - motorcross.

As a fully paid-up petrolhead, bikes and cars have always been his passion.

One of his biggest extravagances was buying a Porsche Boxster for his mum - which he then crashed when he borrowed it for a spin.

He said: "I'd wanted to do something nice for my mum and she loved it. I couldn't believe it when I wrote it off.

"She wasn't bothered, she was just glad I was okay. I bought her another one - that was a particularly expensive year." Kelvin has his eye on a new Bentley but for now he's driving something a little more modest, a Vauxhall Vectra.

He said: " It's not very glam but, at 55 miles to the gallon, it's great for my commute to Leeds. I think that must say something about me. Maybe I'm getting old." = Emmerdale is on ITV1, weeknights, 7pm..I just want to be a normal lad - not known as 'that bloke off the telly'

CAPTION(S):

Andy takes anger out on girlfriend Jo after jail release Kelvin and his fashion buyer girlfriend Liz Marsland at this year's TV Now awards in Dublin