Sir Ian McKellen recalls growing up in Wigan where the only sweet available was Uncle Joe’s Mint Balls

Joining Chris Evans on his Virgin Radio breakfast show, the 83-year-old spoke about his upcoming play titled Frank and Percy before touching on his Wigan childhood.

He attended his first Shakespeare play with his sister at Wigan Little Theatre which was shortly followed by Macbeth and a Wigan High School for Girls' production of A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Appearing in films such as The Da Vinci Code, The Lord of the Rings Trilogy and Gods and Monsters, Sir Ian has become a household name.

After moving from Burnley to Wigan during the Second World War, Sir Ian stated that the town had been lucky enough to fall victim to very few bombs during confilct.

He added: “We had evacuees from Middlesex staying with us, I didn’t realise that it wasn’t normal to live with total strangers for a year.

"I slept under an Anderson shelter in the back room and we had blackout materials so tha the enemy couldn’t see our lights on – al this seemed very normal.”

He later referred to what his definition of peace was at the time, seeing the King and Queen’s face in fireworks in Wigan Mesnes Park or the arrival of the first banana following the war.

Ian said: “There was very little food, and what there was had to be rationed. Eventually sweets came off the ration and you could buy any sweets you want instead of just Uncle Joe’s Mint Balls!”

The full interview can be listened to on Virgin Radio UK.