LIFE has been a whirlwind of interviews and appearances for Stourbridge salsa gran Paddy Jones who has been wowing the world with her sizzling dance moves.
The 75-year-old retired shopkeeper, who won Spain’s version of Britain’s Got Talent with her toyboy dance partner Nicko Espinosa, has been inundated with calls from journalists across the globe eager to get the inside story on her dancing success.
“It really is incredible. It’s just really taken off. My phone hasn’t stopped ringing. The last thing we were expecting was this” - she told the News on her latest flying visit to Stourbridge.
An endless stream of press interviews and TV appearances have followed since Paddy and Nicko, aged 35, stunned the judges with their acrobatic dance routine on the Spanish show 'Tu Si Que Vales'.
The latest of which saw the unlikely duo performing their racy moves live on ITV1’s This Morning show last Thursday (January 14).
Heart-throb host Phillip Schofield described Paddy’s moves as “unbelievable” before presenting the gutsy gran-of-seven with a bouquet of flowers. And co-host Holly Willoughby told the scantily-clad septuagenarian: “I’d imagine you’re an inspiration to a lot of people”.
Paddy, real name Sarah Jones, said afterwards: “It was a delightful experience. Phillip was just as sweet and nice as he comes over, he’s so natural - and Holly was lovely.”
Desite missing out on the 100,000 Euro top prize in the ‘Tu Si Que Vales' final of finals on December 30, jet-setting Paddy and Nicko are still very much in demand.
And they are not planning to slow down anytime soon either.
Sprightly Paddy, a professional dancer in her youth, told the News: “I can’t see 2010 being very quiet.”
And she hopes her story will continue to inspire other older people to stay active after retirement.
She said: “When people see me doing this at my age they think ‘maybe I can do something’ - so if I’ve done something to help somebody keep fit that’s all good.”
Paddy, who used to run Paddy’s Fabrics in Stourbridge’s Victoria Passage, moved to Gandia in Spain a few years ago for a quiet life with husband David. But fate had other ideas.
After losing David to leukaemia, she decided to reprise her love of dance and took up salsa classes at a nearby dance school - where instructor Nicko quickly spotted her potential.
Since then - she’s spent her days shimmying around dancefloors all over the world; even entertaining Hollywood’s finest old showmen and women at an international salsa congress at Laguna Beach in Orange County, California, last year.
To see Paddy’s interview and performance on This Morning click on the link below:
To watch video interview with the News see below.
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