THERE can't be many pop stars who would turn down the opportunity to plug their upcoming tour live on air -- but once Sky News host Kay Burley had finished grilling him about his ex-wife Jordan's latest publicity stunt (marrying transvestite cagefighter and Celebrity Big Brother winner Alex Reid in Las Vegas, followed by a visit to a strip club to celebrate the nuptials), Peter Andre clearly wasn't in the mood to discuss anything, much less his career.

It was bad enough for Andre to have to answer questions about Reid's ludicrous offer to adopt his children. Yeah, because there's nothing those kids need more in their life right now than the star of violent porno flick Killer Bitch as a role model, right?

But Burley capped it all by then showing him a clip of an interview with footballer Dwight Yorke, who had the audacity to question the singer's credentials as a father to his (Dwight's) disabled son, Harvey, in light of the break up of the Peter/Jordan relationship. Yorke even accused the singer of being "disrespectful" for offering to adopt Harvey.

It was at this point that Andre became upset and abruptly terminated the interview, but not before pointing out that "I asked to adopt him because I love him, not to be disrespectful". Later, according to Kay Burley's blog, he wept on her shoulder backstage when she went to apologise, distraught at the thought of having to fight for his own children with such a collection of, well, the word scumbags springs to mind. Meanwhile, Katie Price/Jordan and Reid were announcing their intention to try for a honeymoon baby. Never has the case for forcible sterilisation been more compelling.

Throughout it all, Andre behaves, as ever, with extraordinary dignity and restraint. He is of the Katharine Hepburn "never complain, never explain" school. Even when quizzed repeatedly about his former wife's undignified car-crash of a life, he keeps on smiling, refuses to say anything bitchy or bitter about any of the individuals involved, and wishes them all only the best.

He doesn't even moan or threaten to draft in m'learned friends to protect his precious privacy, because he knows it comes with the territory. He courts the media to make a living, so he acknowledges that they have a right in return to take an interest in his private life. Thus when Burley says she now considers herself a fully paid-up member of Team Andre, she's definitely not the only one.

Of course, the Sky News woman may simply have been trying to fend off some of the criticism she received in the wake of the interview. Ofcom, the UK broadcasting watchdog, received a number of complaints from viewers. Burley was certainly relentless, like a rottweiler with a piece of raw meat, even as it was apparent that her guest was becoming increasingly uncomfortable with the line of questioning. Even so, other celebrities should watch and learn about how to behave in the public eye.

Not just celebrities either. You can't help wishing that some of the more vocal advocates of men's rights, who are always loudly championing the cause of the allegedly poor, downtrodden father figure in modern society, would take a hint as well. Andre walks the walk rather than just talking the talk. Even after the Sky News interview, he headed home to make dinner for his children and have what he hoped would be a pleasant evening with them.

It's not as exciting as dressing up in a Spiderman costume and abseiling down the facade of the House of Commons, but being there for them is what ultimately make a difference in children's everyday lives, not making a song and dance of your parental devotion whilst secretly being glad that you never have to do anything to prove it.

Given a choice, who would most men honestly rather be -- Peter Andre, or John Terry, the Chelsea and England captain who, rather amusingly, succeeded Jordan's former husband as winner of the Dad of the Year title last summer, and who, it now transpires, has been mounting (no pun intended; and if you believe that . . .) a singlehanded effort to make Tiger Woods look like a monk? More pertinently, who would most women rather have chasing after them? There's no doubt that women are guilty of sending out mixed messages about the kind of men they want.

On the one hand, waxing lyrical about the new man, who can make a fabulous pasta carbonara whilst reciting Dr Seuss to the children from memory and hoovering the stairs; on the other, secretly hankering after testosterone-overloaded bad boys who wouldn't be seen dead with a copy of Feminism For Dummies.

Price, in many ways, sums up that dikotomy perfectly. She's a strange, wounded creature, by turns vile and sweet, ugly and beautiful, but she does seem to represent the archetypal woman who says she wants a fluffy cushion of a man, but then ends up despising him when she gets him, and heading off in search of a bit of rough stuff from whatever pumped-up cagefighter happens to be available. There are plenty like her.

Which could explain why the image of Andre sobbing on Burley's shoulder in the green room is unlikely to have available women rushing to end the life of celibacy that he has, by his own admission, been leading since the break up of his marriage.

The thing is that he's aware of all that, and simply gets on with doing what he thinks is right anyway. Being a nice guy might make him a perpetual laughing stock to some, but he'd clearly rather keep his integrity intact than become the macho caricature that would net him another Jordan. He found out the hard way that there are worse fates than being alone.

Sunday Independent