After seeing him expending all that energy on stage, you somehow expect Joaquin Cortes, bare-chested flamenco dancer extraordinaire, entertainer to royalty, partner to Jennifer Lopez and darling of the fashion world, to be quiet off stage – saving it all, as it were, for his performances.

Not so. Taut as a wire, with slender arms so muscular they’re like writhing snakes, the man exudes energy and passion. Bouncing balletically on the edge of his bed, he grins as he tells HELLO!, “I’m already famous for going topless, but in my new show, Live, I go naked!”

Oh well, we can talk about that if he insists.

“Live is the most intimate show I’ve done so far,” continues Joaquin, who burst onto the international dance and music scene in 1996 with his show Gypsy Passion. “I’m alone on stage for two hours, totally stripped down as an artist.”

So, that’s what he means by naked. Because if he was finally dispensing with his clothes, he wouldn’t need the ministrations of his friend of the past seven years, couturier Giorgio Armani, who not only dresses him for his offstage appearances but provides the wardrobes for his shows. “We work very closely together in the workshops,” explains Joaquin. I tell him how the clothes are going to be used, how they have to move, and he then does the sketches.”

To read more about Joaquin’s hopes and plans for the future and to see the stunning photographs check out this week’s HELLO! magazine, out now.