A BRITAIN’s Got Talent star who captured the hearts of the nation way back in series one looks totally unrecognisable now.
He became known as the boy from Beeston who told judge Piers Morgan he’d hidden his baton-twirling talent from his mum and dad – for 10 years.
Craig Womersley – who now runs a kids casting agency call LB Academy – said he started twirling anything he could get his hands on.
From the age of three he practiced on pencils, sticks and brooms.
His grandmother started a majorette troupe, and he became its most talented twirler.
Emerging as a star baton-twirler, Craig made it through to the semi-finals of Britain’s Got Talent and came ninth in the competition.
“This is my passion. I’ve always loved it” Craig told the judges back in 2007.
“I just enjoyed what I did,” Craig added.
“I started getting bullied at school, so my parents said it was best to stop.
“I did stop for about six months when I was about eight, but then I got straight back into it behind their backs!”
Following his stint on Britain’s Got Talent, he found an agent and started touring the country to teach baton-twirling in schools and was also featured in the ITV documentary, Wood You Believe It.
He twirled at festivals and carnivals up and down the country, including Party in the Park.
He then gave it all up to go and work in Spain for six months, where his parents had relocated.
But Craig missed twirling, and rejoined his former troupe to compete in the United States for the world Twirl Mania competition in 2012.
When he wasn’t coaching, Craig trained to be an actor at an evening course at Manchester School of Acting.
He also started a degree in Television Production at Bradford University, and paid his way through bar work at a pub in Leeds.
