Salsa dancing British granny Paddy Jones wins Spain's Got Talent

[link to www.timesonline.co.uk]

An energetic and surprisingly flexible 75-year-old British woman won the Spanish equivalent of Britain’s Got Talent with a stunning salsa routine

Sarah Jones, known as Paddy, performed a dazzling sequence of flips, spins and high kicks, all while wearing a skimpy blue dress, on Tu Si Que Vales (You Are Worth It).

“I feel I’m extremely lucky that I can do what I do and I shall continue as long as I possibly can,” she told the TV audience, after she and her dance partner, Nicko, accepted their prize money of €10,000 (£9,055).

“It’s crazy — life has just turned upside down. I never really expected it.”

Mrs Jones, who is originally from Stourbridge in the West Midlands, is a former professional dancer but only began salsa dancing five years ago, after the death of her husband, David.

She said that she had initially planned a quiet retirement in Gandia, near Valencia.

Together with her dance partner, who is more than 40 years her junior, she has competed in international salsa contests around Europe and is due to take part in a major salsa congress in Los Angeles in May.

“We’ve been to LA many times but this was incredible — people came from all over the world and we were treated like royalty,” she said.

“Nicko said as long as I can keep doing it, we’ll still do it. I do thank my lucky stars. If I wasn’t doing this my life would be very different — but now there really isn’t a dull moment. It’s incredible.

"I'm living proof age is no barrier. When the music plays I just want to move."

The Stourbridge News reported that Mrs Jones was a professional dancer in her youth. She started dancing when she was two-and-a-half years old, concentrating on classical ballet and tap.