BGT salsa star gran Paddy Jones almost QUIT dancing after her partner dumped
her.
Paddy, real name Sarah Patricia Jones, wowed judges on Saturday’s episode —
earning herself and dance partner Nico Espinosa a golden ticket through to
the semi-finals.
But the 79-year-old’s dance career was almost cut short when temperamental
Nico told her they would never dance together after a row over another TV
show in 2011.
The pair met after the mum-of-four moved to Spain from the West Midlands in
2001 and took up dancing at Nico’s school.
Spotting her talent Nico introduced Paddy to acrobatic salsa and they went
from strength-to-strength, even winning the Spanish version of Britain’s Got
Talent in 2009.
A year later the pair starred on Showmatch, an Argentine series similar to
Strictly Come Dancing.
But disaster struck when Paddy missed some of the contest’s shows to visit her
family in the UK.
Her stand-in dancer offended the show’s judges and was voted off, leaving Nico
so furious he didn’t even call Paddy to tell her they were out of the
competition.
Paddy explained: “When I went back, an interviewer asked me how I had felt
when he told me we were out — and I had to tell the truth, that he hadn’t.”
Fleet-footed Paddy added: “There was outrage from everyone — groups started on
Facebook calling him names that are all unprintable.
“He was furious with me, but what else could I have said?”
Their relationship deteriorated further when Nico slipped up at Peru’s first
World Salsa Congress in February 2011, causing both dancers to crash to the
floor.
Humiliated Nico then shut down his bar in Gandia, Spain and moved away from
the area, saying he’d never work with Paddy again.
He even held a farewell party, but REFUSED to invite Paddy.
She was left distraught by his snub.
Paddy said: “Seven years down the drain — you think surely he could have said
something, but no — absolutely nothing.”
Luckily, Nico calmed down and they reunited when Nico begged for them to dance
together again.
Paddy said: “I think he realised it was worth his while to keep in touch with
me.”