Jamie, 38, lives in West London with wife Sophie and their two young children. BRITAIN'S BEST BRAIN HITS OUR SCREENS SOON, ARE YOU EXCITED?

Yes, I'm very excited. It's been a long while since Zoe [Ball] and I worked together - it's a fun show and we had a great time making it, so I can't wait for everyone else to see it.

IT SEEMS LIKE A GAME SHOW LIKE NO OTHER ON TELEVISION AT THE MOMENT?

It's very different to other shows. Essentially it's five players in each episode and they compete in five different challenges which test five different parts of the brain, so it's not about general knowledge, it's about brain function. We test them for numeracy, memory, co-ordination, recognition and risk - they're like the five main parts of the brain. We test them all on those different factors, and that makes their own brain score. We have seven studio heats and the top five contestants go into the final. And then one of those will be crowned Britain's Best Brain.

IT SOUNDS QUITE COMPLICATED?

It's not really heavy because it's the kind of thing that people can play along at home to, and it's more of a game that's not what you know, but more about how your brain functions.

THERE ARE SO MANY GAME SHOWS ON TELEVISION THESE DAYS, DO YOU THINK THERE'S ROOM FOR ANOTHER IN THE SCHEDULES?

I think there's certainly room for a show like this because it's never really been done before. You have traditional notions of intellect depending on how well-educated you are about your acquired knowledge, and it's not about that, it's also not about pushing people's physical fitness - it is about how your brain functions, so it's not like an IQ test. It's celebrating what you know you're good at and unlocking the potential in your brain you never knew you had.

WHAT'S IT LIKE WORKING WITH ZOE AGAIN, HAVE YOU BEEN HAVING FUN WHILE RECORDING THE SHOW?

It's been great, it's like we've never been apart really. It's almost like going back to how things should be, because over the last 10 years I've worked with lots of other female co-hosts and I guess you always measure them against the first one you worked with. They're all slightly different from Zoe, so in a way it's funny to come to back to work with the person you first started out with. It all seems to be the right thing.

WHY DO THE PAIR OF YOU WORK SO WELL TOGETHER?

I guess we know each other well, so there's an understanding there. Also when you're cutting your teeth on live shows you spend quite a lot of time looking out for each other, so there's a trust and an understanding that never really goes. She's a bit mad and I'm quite sensible, so it's kind of like Yin and Yang [Chinese concept of opposites], I guess.

YOU'RE A MEMBER OF MENSA, WOULD YOU FANCY YOUR CHANCES IF YOU WERE A CONTESTANT ON BRITAIN'S BEST BRAIN?

We played during rehearsals - my calculations are rubbish, numeracy isn't my strong point, my memory wasn't too great. But my recognition was quite good, though. There were elements of my short-term memory that were quite good, but I guess taking the fact into account that you have to be quite good at everything, I don't think I'd go particularly far.

DO YOU THINK THE SHOW COULD EMULATE WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE? AND THE WEAKEST LINK?

Yeah, I think so. I think it's the kind of show that people will enjoy, they'll like watching it and getting involved and I think it'll be a big success.

WHAT WOULD BE YOUR SPECIALIST SUBJECT ON MASTERMIND?

It would probably be pop music of the 1990s. Having done music shows for the best part of 10 years, I interviewed most bands so it's probably pop music, I guess.

YOU'VE DONE QUITE A BIT OF ACTING OVER THE YEARS, ANY PLANS TO DO ANY MORE?

No, not really. It's difficult because doing a breakfast radio show every morning means I don't really fit in with filming schedules. We don't really get out of the office until about 10.30am and most shooting schedules start at about 7am, so I don't really have the time to do that. We've recently had a new baby as well, so I've got my hands full right now.

SO, DO YOU PLAN ON HOSTING YOUR RADIO SHOW FOR A WHILE YET?

Yeah, I think so. It's great for me to do TV because it's something that I've always loved doing, but for me the radio show is very much part of my life now and it's nice to be able to do both.