Leslie Jordan claims WIll and Grace will return for a new season this year

It had already been strongly rumoured to be making a comeback, and now Will And Grace favourite Leslie Jordan has confirmed the hit 90s sitcom is definitely returning to the small screen this year.

The actor and comedian, who won an Emmy for his turn as Beverley Leslie on the show, cannot wait for the program to return to NBC for its 10 episode run, the Daily Mail reports.

During an interview on KPBS the 61-year-old said: 'It was a huge part of my life and then I won the Emmy and it's back.

'Here's the way it works (NBC) has ordered 10. It'll be for next season, so it'll go on in July and then they'll add the guest cast. I'll get a phone call - I'm not a regular."

Leslie became a nationwide star due to his hilarious turns as Megan Mullally's character Karen's pretentious, sexually ambiguous rival.

But he revealed his signature role had been written and briefly filled by one of the biggest names in show business.

The Memphis native said: 'You know the part was written for Joan Collins. They wanted to pull her wig off. They fired her - she wouldn't allow her wig to be pulled off.

"And so I just walked into an audition and the character's name was Beverly Leslie. I did one and I remember my manager on the day said, 'you must have scored a coup. The cliffhanger this year is Ellen DeGeneres and she plays a nun and they want you'."

Jordan ended up appearing 11 times as the character between 2001 and 2006, and scooped the Emmy for Best Guest Actor in a Comedy Series.

He also said he could not wait to reunite with his old friends, saying: It's in front of an audience and I have a theatre background so I'm all for those. 'There's zero improvisation. People think we probably get to tell jokes - no, no, no.

'Film is a director's medium, stage is an actor's medium, television is a writer's medium. And so you have to have reverence for that or you're really in trouble.'

It had previously emerged that show stars Debra Messing and Eric McCormack, who play the titular characters, were up for a money-spinning comeback, alongside their long-time co-stars Megan Mullally and Sean Hayes.

While recent spin-offs and revivals have often sprung up on streaming services, the classic show will be retaining its network status by appearing again on NBC.

The decision to bring the show back came after the cast reunited for a seemingly one-off special to encourage people to vote. Their much touted #VoteHoney video, which has more than six million views already following its release on September 26.

The show's creators and producers Max Mutchnick and David Kohan are fully behind the idea.

Slipping into their old roles like well-worn clothes, they discussed presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump after show regulars Karen, played by Megan and Jack, played by Sean, backed the Republican candidate.

At the time the stars played possum over a more permanent reunion, though Mullally did refuse to rule one out.

The popular programme followed gay lawyer Will Truman and his best friend Grace Adler, a Jewish woman who owns an interior design firm.

It ran for eight seasons from 1998 to 2006, and while a 10-episode mini-series is confirmed there could be as many as three seasons in the works.

However the comeback flies in the face of Eric's previous statements, as he said: 'We definitely gave the show the end it deserved and it also took away the temptation to go back to that because I think we would only damage what we did at the end.'

Other revivals to hit screens in recent times include Gilmore Girls, The X-Files and Arrested Development.