Before Strictly Come Dancing pro Kai Widdrington joined the series this year, it seemed that his career could have taken a completely different direction all together.
Born on August 23rd, 1995 in Southampton, 26-year-old Kai is the son of Tommy Widdrington, a former English Football league player and manager, who made over 372 appearances over 15 years.
He formerly played for Grimsby town, and was at Mariners from 1996, until he joined Port Vale in 1999 and then signed professionally with Valiants.
Tommy is currently the Director at Bristol Rovers.
With a famous footballing father, it seemed that Kai was set to follow in his footsteps of playing the sport professionally, until he began dancing at the age of nine.
(Image: PA)
Kai’s brother Theo however, carried on playing the sport and has since played professionally for Bristol Rovers.
Leaving dreams of football behind him, Kai won the World Junior Latin-American Champion title by the time he was 14 years old.
It was onwards and upwards for the dancing sensation as in 2012, he competed with ballroom and Latin dancer Natalia Jeved in series six of Britain’s Got Talent.
(Image: BBC / Guy Levy)
The duo reached the live final and came in 11th place during the series, which was won by Ashleigh and dancing dog Pudsey.
In 2014, he competed again in Britain’s Got Talent alongside future Strictly pro dancers Neil and Katya Jones and future Dancing With the Stars pros Ryan McShane and Ksenia Zsikhotska, in the ballroom dancing group Kings & Queens.
From there, he moved his way to competing in the Irish version of Dancing with the Stars from 2017-2020, before joining Strictly Come Dancing this year as a professional.
(Image: BBC)
Kai is partnered with TV presenter AJ Odudu on the current series.
Speaking on BBC Breakfast about joining the show, Kai said: “This is my childhood dream come true.
“Watching Strictly from the very first series as a young boy from Southampton and now 18 years later, to be a professional dancer on the show is the most amazing feeling and the biggest accomplishment of my career.
“I can’t wait to step onto the Strictly floor and experience the exciting times that lie ahead.”
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
