Paddy: “People see my grey hair and think I’m sedate”
Jaws dropped on Saturday night’s show when 79-year-old grandmother Paddy proved age is no obstacle on Britain’s Got Talent.
The 79-year-old salsa dancer and her partner Nico picked up the first Golden Buzzer of the series, huge cheers from the audience and an apology from Simon Cowell.
We caught up with Paddy to find out the secret to her mind-blowing performance.
“My children say mother never did grow up,” she said. “I was in the park yesterday and one of the children offered me their roller skates. I’ve always enjoyed being with young people and they don’t think of me as an old person.
“I did see the audience’s mouth open. People just see my grey hair and think I’m sedate. I used to wear trousers because ladies of my age don’t get their legs out!”
The trained ballet dancer told us the trickiest part was letting go of the more controlled dancing style she was used to.
“With Latin American dancing, everything is lose and I do find that a little difficult. “I don’t get scared when Nico throws me around. If it’s not possible for me to move my body in a certain way we will just try it in a different way so I know I can do everything. I just enjoy it.”
Despite an early buzz from Simon, the duo picked up the Golden Buzzer from Amanda catapulting them into the semis.
“When Amanda pressed the Golden Buzzer it was amazing. And we were told getting an apology from Simon was quite special – I did see his expression when we came on stage.”
Paddy told us she had a lot of support from her home town in the Midlands and watched the show on a Big Screen in the local pub.
“I might get mobbed,” she quipped. “I won’t be able to get down the high street very quickly.”
We tried to get Paddy to give a hint as to what we could expect from the Live Shows.
“I’ve no idea what we will be doing for the semi-finals, that’s down to Nico but he has suggested we do something a little more English, maybe dance to a pop song so the audience can sing along. We danced to Yesterday by the Beatles which has a nice beat.
“He’s the boss”
That’s what Paddy’s telling us – we’re not so sure! Keep watching to see how Paddy and Nico top their BGT debut.