WITH everything that's going on at the moment, we thought Weymouth and Portland needed a bit of positivity.

So we dug around in our archives and came up with this gem from 2015 - when a huge household name - 'chatty man' Alan Carr - waxed lyrical about his home town.

Dorset Echo's Joanna Davis wrote in 2015:

EARLY next month you're likely to see the nation's favourite chat show host wandering around Weymouth.

The bespectacled comedian might be strolling along the Esplanade admiring the sand sculptures, or he may even be back in Littlemoor reminiscing about where he used to live.

For Alan Carr, born on Portland and proud of it, speaks of this part of Dorset with such pride, exuberance and knowledge you just know he's not going through the motions to plug his latest tour.

Alan was keen to get back to this beautiful part of the world while doing two gigs in Bournemouth as part of his Yap! Yap! Yap! tour.

He may have scooped the National Television Award for Best Chat Show Host earlier this year, but he first got his hands on silverware as a 17-year-old serving up breakfasts at the Prince Regent Hotel in Weymouth's seafront.

Alan tells me: "I had two stints in Weymouth. The first was when I was my dad was a footballer for Weymouth, I was only about three then.

"I don't have many memories of that time, I was born in 1976 and my mum told me about the amazing hot summer then.

"I came back when I was 17 for a summer before I went to university and I had a wonderful time."

This Alan Carr interview was a long time coming after I originally tried to secure a few minutes on the phone with the Chatty Man ahead of a previous gig in Poole.

After being told there was no phone time available as Alan was so busy with Chatty Man and submitting a few 'Weymouth-related' questions, I was disappointed that he had no time to send me a reply.

Instead, I was offered a generic regional interview that likely appeared in papers from Prestatyn to Prestwick.

But an interview with Alan without mention of Dorset would have been like an interview with Ant and Dec without mentioning Tyneside.

Dorset Echo: Alan CarrAlan Carr

Phoning me bang on time on his way to a Middlesbrough gig and as warm and genuine as his on-screen persona, Alan is wonderfully accommodating dispatching anecdotes about life in Dorset.

The Carr family lived in the Littlemoor area of Weymouth, Alan said.

"I went back there and my mum was pointing out the place where we lived.

"I remember it as a happy time, going to places like Lulworth Cove.

"When I was working at the Prince Regent I was looking after a load of pensioners who would go there and quite often they'd be staying in the hotel next door and they'd come into our hotel by mistake.

Dorset Echo: Amy Frost from Portland met up with Alan Carr in February after their first meeting went viralAmy Frost from Portland met up with Alan Carr in February after their first meeting went viral

"They'd always be welcome though. We'd let it slip. You're always welcome in Weymouth.

"I know it probably seems like I rave about every location for whatever reason but for Weymouth it is really genuine.

"I have a real love for the place, there's something special about it to me because I was born there. I do like to pop back.

"I love to walk along the seafront. It hasn't been spoilt by amusements and things.

"It's got that vibe of an old-fashioned seaside place."

Alan then reels off a list of things he loves about Weymouth including the 'sandman' Mark Anderson and the Smugglers Inn at Osmingon Mills by the coast where he loves to have a pint.

It's a great place to walk his dogs, red setters Beverly and Joyce, he says.

The nationwide Yap! Yap! Yap! tour was a huge hit, attracting positive reviews and standing ovations in some venues.

Alan said at the time: "I'm really pleased it's going so well. It takes me forever to write a tour and for it to be going so well is why we're adding more dates to the tour.

"I spent six months trying things out ready for the tour and I would say to people 'please do come'.

Autumn saw Alan do another series of his C4 show Chatty Man while the tour continued.

"I'm like the Katie Price of the TV world - I've got the perfume, the book and everything coming out," he jokes.

He added: "It's the way of the world of TV, you have to make hay while the sun shines.

"It will be nice to have a bit of a breather but I'm in a very privileged position.

"I love doing stand-up and I love doing Chatty Man, you just have to go for it.

"I've worked in a call centre, I could still be doing that, I'm very lucky!"

And viewers can obviously spot that gratitude, selecting Alan's show above chat show rivals as their favourite at the National TV Awards.

"I think people like to see the celebrities having fun and having a laugh.

"It's not just celebrities plugging stuff. Although we have to do that we see a lot of the guests, people see the alcohol and the jokes and we get a lot out of them.

"Although I must say I did feel a bit sorry for the Black Eyed Peas after Michael Jackson's death when they chose Lambrini to toast his life with.

"I suppose if you don't live in this country it conjures up exotic images of Italy."