My boy’s newfound talent was about to take him to dazzling new heights. By Fiona Pike, 58
As the lights went up, I beamed with pride as my son Nathan took centre-stage, donning a dashing waistcoat and smart bow-tie.
He was taking part in a charity ballroom dancing show, Strictly Banbury, alongside his dad, Tom.
Neither Nathan nor Tom had any dance experience. But as Nathan’s school were going to be a beneficiary of the event, he’d been asked
to take part.
Finishing his jive with a flourish, the crowd roared with applause.
At the end of the show, I greeted them backstage.
‘Well done, you two!’ I said.
‘That was so cool!’ Nathan replied.
I felt so proud of him, I wanted to burst.
Nathan was our only child and he’d been born with Down’s syndrome.
He’d achieved so much, but it hadn’t been an easy road.
For the first three years of his life, Nathan had been in and out of hospital with various health complications.
Tom and I had been worried out of our minds, and I’d spent countless days sleeping on a camp bed in his hospital room, refusing
to leave his side.
Once he was discharged from hospital, it became clear that parenthood would be slightly different to how we’d imagined it.
But to us, Nathan was nothing less than perfect.
Throughout his childhood, we sometimes felt sad
that Nathan didn’t get to experience the things we
had growing up, like a friend coming round for a sleepover.
But he was happy, which was all that mattered.
'What's your favourite dance?'
After Strictly Banbury, all three of us caught the dancing bug. We’d sit around the TV
on Saturday nights, glued to Strictly Come Dancing.
Nathan memorised the name of every dancer on the show, loving the glitter and glamour of it all.
‘Why don’t we start you on some lessons?’ I said to Nathan one day.
‘That would be great,’
he replied.
From then on, Nathan
took lessons at a local dance school and began competing in competitions.
One day, while I watched him dance, I got chatting to Joanne, a professional dancer and teacher at the school.
‘I’ve been watching Nathan dance and he’s brilliant,’ she began. ‘But I think he’s capable of so much more. I’d love to teach him if you’d let me.’
‘Go for it!’ I replied.
During their first session, Nathan was reserved, but
it wasn’t long before Joanne managed to coax him out
of his shell.
‘What’s your favourite dance?’ she asked him.
‘The cha-cha!’ he replied eagerly.
‘Let’s get started on that then,’ she said.
Soon, the pair were thick as thieves. Joanne had a knack for bringing out the best in Nathan and he worked harder than ever.
They began entering competitions, performing in legendary locations like the Winter Gardens in Blackpool.
Nathan thrived in front of
a crowd, and it wasn’t long before the dynamic duo were attracting attention.
One day, I received a call from Tom at work.
‘Joanne’s just told me she’s
been invited to audition for Britain’s Got Talent with Nathan,’ he said.
‘What!’ I replied, astounded.
I was over the moon that they’d recognised Nathan and Joanne’s talent.
But we took time to consider whether we wanted to expose Nathan to the media attention, as we knew people could be unkind.
In the end, we couldn’t turn it down. It was the opportunity of a lifetime for Nathan.
We were told to keep the audition hush-hush, but there was one problem — Nathan couldn’t keep a secret to save his life!
So, we decided to surprise him on the day with his reaction being filmed for
the show.
On the morning of the audition, Nathan and around 40 other students from the dance school made their way up to Manchester.
Everybody else was in on the big surprise except Nathan, who thought he was performing at a showcase.
While they rehearsed, one of the judges, Alesha Dixon, snuck up behind him with
a camera crew in tow.
Once he clocked what
was going on, his face was
a picture!
‘It’s time to tell you the real reason you’re here today,’ she said. ‘Will you audition for Britain’s Got Talent?’
‘Yes!’ he replied.
Nathan cha-chaed his way into the live semi-finals and
I was proud as Punch.
His fancy footwork was one thing, but it was incredible to see him proving that Down’s syndrome needn’t hold a person back.
Off the back of the show, Nathan’s had the chance to meet some of his dancing idols such as Shirley Ballas and Anton Du Beke.
Shirley watched one of their performances this year and told them it was a score of 10 from her.
I’m so proud of both Nathan and Joanne.
Their relationship is so special.
Photo credit: Dymond/Thames/Shutterstock