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Gareth Malone is singing down the phone to me.

I feel privileged to be having a private audience with Britain’s favourite choirmaster, as he gives me a quick blast of Mr Blue Sky.

He’s demonstrating the part at the end where, on the original Electric Light Orchestra recording, a choir comes in. That part of the song had never been performed in public before, until Gareth collaborated with Birmingham musician Jeff Lynne last November.

Jeff and his band joined Gareth and his Voices choir to perform a spectacular finale to the Children In Need Rocks concert in London.

Now Gareth, presenter of hit Bafta-winning BBC series The Choir, reveals how nervous he was performing the song live in its entirety for the first time.

“ELO had always stopped when they got to that bit at the end because they thought it was too difficult to perform,” explains Gareth.

“Gary Barlow persuaded him to do it with us. It was nerve-wracking but Jeff was great to work with.

“It involved lots of calls to Jeff’s home in Los Angeles to discuss all the details in advance. I said ‘We can do whatever you like’ and he said ‘I just want it to sound like the record’.