Friends Reunited; as the Wales MillenniumCentre Gets Ready to Stage Its Biggest Musical to Date, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Leading Men Aled Jones and Ian H Watkins Catch Up over Lunch with Karen Price and Share a Few Behind-the-Scenes Stories

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IT'S Friday lunchtime and inside a busy restaurant in London's Covent Garden two young men are greeting each other with a big hug followed by some back slapping.

Arather exhausted looking Aled Jones has just arrived at Browns after spending the morning in a dance rehearsal and he appears - to put it politely - a bit ruffled around the edges.

But he is clearly pleased to be catching up with his new co-star - and old friend - Ian H Watkins and it seems the feeling is mutual.

"How are you?" shouts Watkins, leaping from the brown leather seat and throwing his arms out as soon as he claps eyes on Jones.

"Shattered," says the singer and presenter before plonking himself down at our table and ordering a large orange juice and lemonade in an attempt to rehydrate himself.

At the time, it's less than two weeks until the Welshmen return home to the stage of the Wales Millennium Centre for the venue's biggest production to date, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

But they have managed to find time to join me for lunch and to talk about their project.

While Watkins is spared the daily rigmarole of rehearsals due to the …