Talented strongman’s TV tribute

A strongman from Wolverhampton will wow television audiences tonight when he lifts presenters Ant and Dec into the air in a gravity-defying feat.

And former Regis school pupil Stu ‘Goldcrusher’ Goldsmith is set to dedicate his prime-time appearance to his tragic friend, Mark Speight. Viewers can tune in to watch the muscleman as he auditions for hit ITV show Britain’s Got Talent at 8pm tonight.

The 39-year-old from Tettenhall delighted audience members at the Birmingham round of auditions, held at the city’s Hippodrome theatre, by hoisting the Geordie duo clean off the ground.

But his efforts failed to impress the show’s panel of judges, TV’s ‘Mr Nasty’ Simon Cowell, actress Amanda Holden and journalist Piers Morgan, and the weightlifter was sent packing.

Stu was a childhood friend of Mark, who was found hanged last month after disappearing following an inquest into the death of his girlfriend Natasha Collins. The 19-stone strongman said he thought Mark, who died aged 42, would be proud of his routine on the ITV show.

He said: “I dedicated the performance to Mark. He thought the world of what I have done for my strongman charity roadshow.

“His father is setting up the SP8 foundation. Mark used to do a lot of work for disabled children so his father is sorting the foundation out.”

The TV talent show is the UK’s most popular entertainment programme and last year discovered opera-singing salesman Paul Potts. An audience of 13 million tuned in to watch the Cardiff singer crowned the winner of the show after his tear-jerking performance of Nessun Dorma.