Dancing grandmother Sarah “Paddy” Jones astounded both the judges and a watching TV audience of millions when she appeared on Britain's Got Talent at the weekend.

However her incredible talents were no secret to us here at Guinness World Records, having recognised her amazing dancing skills back in 2009 when we awarded her the title for Oldest acrobatic salsa dancer.

The 79-year-old from Stourbridge, UK, stunned watchers on Saturday night as she was thrown into the air by her Spanish dance partner Nico Espinosa, who is 40 years her junior.


The performance saw the pair go directly through into this year's Britain’s Got Talent’s semi-finals, leading show judge David Walliams to tell Paddy: "You are an amazing example to older people because you have shown, however old you are, you can still be spectacular and beautiful, and still be amazing."

Born Sarah Patricia Jones, on 1 July 1934, Paddy first began classical dance at the tender age of 2. She went on to take classes in more dance disciplines during her teenage years, but left dancing at the age of 22 when she married her husband, David.

The pair moved to Gandia, Spain in 2001 when her husband retired, but David died of leukaemia just two years later.

After the death of her husband, Paddy decided to take flamenco classes at Nico's academy in Spain, where she learned Latin America dance and formed the salsa duo "Son del Timbal" alongside her tutor.

Paddy entered the record books after winning first prize alongside Nico, on the Spanish TV talent show "Tu Si Que Vales" in December 2009 at the age of 75 years 5 months and 1 day.

Paddy -Jones

She later went on to appear on Italian Guinness World Records show ‘Lo Show dei Record’ as well as making appearances on This Morning and the Paul O'Grady Show in the UK on ITV.

In the 2009 interview below, Paddy talks about her incredible talent and how she made her way into the record books.

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