Sign up to FREE email alerts from Mirror - celebs Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

Form an orderly queue, girls... Mr Selfridge hunk Jeremy Piven is ready to settle down.

In the ITV period drama, his character is trying to lure wife Rose back into bed after one affair too many drove her to withdraw her favours.

In real life, US actor Jeremy has dated a succession of beauties on either side of the Atlantic.

But he remains a bachelor at 48 – and now wishes he wasn’t.

“It was never my masterplan still to be single at this age,’ he admitted to the Sunday People. “It’s just kind of worked out that way. But I’m ready not to be single.”

There has certainly been no shortage of likely candidates.

A year ago Alexandra Burke, the 25-year-old winner of 2008’s X Factor, was reported to have danced the night away with Jeremy at LouLou’s nightclub in central London.

At 3am, they both turned up – separately – at the Corinthia Hotel, where Jeremy just happened to be staying.

It was daylight when she left, although neither star would comment later.

But then, saying nothing would seem to be a good policy for women who spend time alone with Jeremy.

His last recorded romance – with US socialite Erica Lancellotti in 2012 – hit the buffers after six months when she ill-advisedly spoke publicly about their relationship.

(Image: ITV)

There have been plenty of other high-profile head-turners in Jeremy’s life though.

Four years ago he left a party after the Golden Globes ceremony in LA with blonde and beautiful January Jones, the 35-year-old who played Betty Draper in Mad Men.

A week later, they attended a ­football game. But they are just good friends, according to his representative.

Last September Jeremy was seen emerging from the Groucho Club in London’s Soho in the company of Rachel Hunter, 44, the former wife of Rod Stewart.

But they definitely are just good friends, having met in California where they both live. There is no romance and never has been.

Whether the same can be said about Kelly Brook is anyone’s guess.

The socially mobile Ms Brook, 34, first bumped into Jeremy last October at a Halloween party in LA.

Other guests included Leonardo DiCaprio, Cindy Crawford and Sacha Baron Cohen.

A week later Kelly, who has recently been dating former Gladiator David McIntosh, spent the weekend with Jeremy at his Malibu house.

Photographs of them frolicking on his sundeck were widely featured in celebrity magazines.

Not that Jeremy compares ­himself to his TV character Harry Gordon Selfridge .

Harry, who founded the London department store that bears his name in 1909, was a famous womaniser – “Whereas I know very little about women,” said the actor, his eyes twinkling.

“I had to think long and hard about how to play a character who was devoted to his wife and kids but could not stop himself straying.”

The real-life Harry’s mistresses included famous dancers Isadora Duncan and Anna Pavlova, as well as a pair of identical twins, the Dolly Sisters Jenny and Rose, who were a vaudeville act credited as the first celebs famous for being famous.

Jeremy explained: “Harry had a huge heart. But he was a slave to his vices. And he was a massive gambler, a risk junkie.

"He felt most alive when the stakes were highest.

"He found that thrilling. In the end, it led to his downfall.”

Selfridge amassed huge wealth but was a big spender who ran up debts.

He died a pauper at 83 and there was not enough cash in his estate to buy a headstone for his grave.

Jeremy was the first choice to play Harry following his role as ruthless LA agent Ari Gold in Entourage.

Executive producer Kate Lewis recalled: “The casting director and first director, Jon Jones, flew out to LA to see him.

Video Loading Video Unavailable Click to play Tap to play The video will start in 8 Cancel Play now

‘What started out as a meeting, turned into drinks which then turned into supper.

“They were bowled over by his enthusiasm for the project, his understanding of the character and his energy.”

Jeremy explained: “I’d been a fan of the UK and its arts for a really long time.

“At one stage, I studied here as part of an exchange programme at the National Theatre, where I’d see the likes of Dame Judi Dench and Sir Anthony Hopkins perform each evening.”

He is also a long-time fan of our TV.

“My initial inspiration was Monty Python and then everything of any worth, right up to Luther,” he said.

John Cleese played a cameo role on Entourage, which meant Jeremy already had an inkling that the Monty Python team were planning to re-group for a stage show.

He said: “It will be so great to see them back together again.”

When told that all tickets for the first show sold out in 43 seconds, Jeremy joked: “Why did it take so long?

"I’ve got to find a way to sneak into the O2 in July.

“Perhaps they’ll allow me to make them sandwiches or something.”

He also remembers seeing early episodes of Downton Abbey before it took off in the States.

Jeremy said: “I loved it from the first moment. In fact, I’ve worked with Elizabeth McGovern, my fellow American who plays Lady Cora.”

Busy Jeremy likes little better than enjoying downtime at his Malibu house, watching basketball on TV.

His other passion is ­drumming, a hobby for more than two decades. He has played with Kid Rock, Wyclef Jean and Bonnie Raitt as well as with Wayne Newton in Las Vegas.

For now, the most important females in his life are his sister’s daughters Pearl, 12, and Lili-Rose, eight, to whom he is devoted.

“I’d love a family of my own one day,’ he admitted.

“My parents were together from college onwards until my father passed away. I come from a very loving family.

"I’m absolutely up for having my own one day.

“But right now I’m happy the girls can come to the premiere of a movie I’m in.

"Until recently they thought I worked for the bus company because they kept seeing my picture on the side of buses.

“Mr Selfridge, though, has given me a bit of street cred.”