FOR the first five years of Cold Feet, it was hard to tell the difference between James Nesbitt and the womanising manchild he played in the show.

Particularly when the then married father-of-two was involved in a string of affairs, binge-drinking and drug-taking.

But while James, 53, ditched his playboy ways, his Cold Feet character Adam Williams is only now starting to follow suit.

In series eight of the ITV comedy drama, which starts next month, viewers will see him humiliate his own family by endlessly chasing young women — then they will finally witness him shamed into becoming a mature dad.

For the actor, the parallels with his own life are obvious. James said: “God, I’ve certainly put my family through some difficult times in the past. There’s not a million miles between me and Adam — as much as I’d like to say it’s been a stretch.

“I wouldn’t say I’ve learnt a lot from him, I would say he is influenced quite a lot by me.

“I just don’t think men want to grow up as quickly. It depends on who the person is, of course — I’ve got some male friends who are extremely mature. I spend as little time with them as possible.”

Adam has always been the most immature of the five main characters in Cold Feet, which was a huge hit during the first five series — from 1998 to 2003.

John Thomson, 49, and Fay Ripley, 52, will reprise their roles as Jenny and Peter Gifford in the new six-part series, as will Hermione Norris, 51, and Robert Bathurst, 61, as Karen and David Marsden. And all of them will despair at Adam’s behaviour.

In real life, James has often been just as badly behaved. His troubled 22-year marriage to actress Sonia Forbes-Adams, 53, who repeatedly forgave his hellraising, finally ended in divorce two years ago.

Since then, with two grown-up daughters, Peggy, 21, and Mary, 16, he has not attracted quite as many headlines. But that is contrast to 2002 when it was revealed he had had a two-month affair with legal secretary Dawn Chapman.

Allegations also emerged of a fling with his Cold Feet co-star Kimberley Joseph, 45, and former Miss Ireland Amanda Brunker, 44, when his wife was pregnant.

He put it down to discovering the trappings of fame in his thirties, later explaining: “I was a wee bit lost at a time when I was beginning to get successful.”

Then in 2004 his reputation reached rock bottom when James, then 39, spent the night with a 17-year-old prostitute.

It reflects the storyline that develops in the first episode of the new series, where Adam chases a barista young enough to be his daughter — with disastrous consequences.

Adam chats her up in a cafe but does not realise she is the girlfriend of his 17-year-old son Matthew, played by Cel Spellman, 23.

When she visits the family home for the first time to see Matthew, she reveals his dad was pursuing her and decides she does not want anything to do with either father or son. Furious Matthew then shames his dad — persuading Adam to rethink his life.

James said: “Sometimes, for those who are in complete denial about something, they need a very big eye-opener. It’s delivered in the first episode, through humour and pathos and embarrassment and awkwardness. He certainly doesn’t change overnight, but only then can you begin to move him on.

“It’s not even so much, ‘Will Adam settle down?’ but, ‘How will he deal with his age?’ In the last series I felt he’d maybe lost a bit of his likability. I think that was attached to his disconnect from the reality of who he’s supposed to be and what age he is.”

For James, it boils down to the fact that men are hardwired with a need to continually impress women.

This was something he learned after growing up in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland, in a household dominated by females.

He said: “Men are terrified of women, ultimately. I’m not even joking, I think we are. They’re actually more capable, and more developed, and can better men so much more easily. I grew up with three older sisters, so there’s an element of that, there’s an element of my philosophy attached to that.

“In a sense I think men react to that in a certain way. Men can be violent to women sometimes, I can imagine, because that’s the only way they can better them.

“In the same way I think men sometimes are sort of childish in front of women to get some sort of reaction. They just don’t know what the balance is.” James insists he has restored much of the balance to his life, which helps to explain why his career has soared over the past 15 years.

After the first run of Cold Feet, the job offers came thick and fast. He was in all The Hobbit movies, as dwarf Bofur, and gained huge acclaim playing a bereaved father in BBC1 thriller The Missing.

Since 2016, he’s starred in Sky1’s crime thriller Lucky Man — created by Stan Lee.

The role which meant he had to maintain a constant head of dyed, dark hair. But that all changed this year as they started filming Cold Feet. A big part of Adam growing old gracefully will see him stop covering the grey. Once he ditches the Just for Men, the rest of the characters in the show admit it was long overdue.

It has been a similar story in real life for James, who is now a proud silver fox.

He said: “It looks better like this — I’m the drinking woman’s George Clooney. I’m glad those days are over. It can be a bit embarrassing, the old hair-dying thing. There’s something truthful when Adam goes, ‘It’s time to stop’.’’

But he is not willing to give up everything from his past — including alcohol. Though that does pose a challenge when it comes to maintaining his slim physique. James said: “I train quite a bit — I go to the gym three of four times a week — but I’m not a stranger to a glass of wine. The only way I can do that is have a kind of a balance — and I’m very lucky.”

He feels particularly lucky to be a part of Cold Feet’s series eight, its third run since its 2016 reboot.

He said: “I think the show needed a while to settle and I think that is what’s happened. Now I think it’s really, really strong.”