Sarah "Paddy" Jones shimmies her way to salsa world record

With talent shows, international stardom and a Guinness World Record under her belt, it has been a whirlwind year for the Black Country's very own salsa-dancing granny.

Since entering the Spanish version of Britain's Got Talent, called Tu Si Que Vales, last year, 76-year-old Sarah "Paddy" Jones has been hitting the high spots around the globe.

She was personally invited to dance at New York's Copacabana club, wowed crowds at the Colosseum in Rome and won the hearts of the South American public on Showmatch, Argentina's version of Strictly Come Dancing.

Who would have guessed not only was she once the owner of a market stall in Stourbridge, but that she was booted out for breaking the rules one too many times?

Paddy had run fabric stalls at markets across the Black Country for more than 30 years when, in January 1989, she was locked out of the Crown Centre market as bosses took exception to her leaving her stall unattended.

She had asked a neighbouring stallholder to keep an eye on hers while she took staff out for a Christmas meal. UK Markets chairman Mr Philip Clarke said at the time that Mrs Jones had been warned 60 times about opening late or closing early, and abandoning the stall was the "last straw".

"I can't remember now why it was that the manager objected so strongly, but he kicked me out and that's when I opened my shop in Coventry Street," she said.

"I worked there for a while, then moved to a shop in Victoria Passage where I was until we closed to move to Spain."

Their move, in 2001, was delayed when husband David was diagnosed with leukaemia. After nine months of treatment at Russells Hall Hospital, he was well enough to go, and they enjoyed a few happy months there before the disease returned. He died in March 2003.

"I never even really considered coming back to the UK," said Paddy, who returned home to Gandia, Spain, yesterday after a fleeting visit to see her four children and seven grandchildren.

"My family are here but they're happy for me to be living there as I'm so much safer, and of course they get to visit."

She started dancing shortly after David's death as a way to keep occupied, and when she couldn't find a flamenco class she decided to try out salsa.

That is when she met Nicko Espinosa, who is 40 years her junior but immediately spotted Paddy's potential and recruited her to try a version of salsa acrobatics.

Paddy and Nicko were crowned winners of a round of Tu Si Que Vales — or 'If You Are Worth It' in English — earning a place in the "final of finals" in December last year. The athletic pensioner reached the final eight out of 20 acts, just missing out on the 100,000 euro top prize which went to a little dog who performed various tricks including tucking himself into bed.

What they didn't know at the time was that Tu Si Que Vales had also been aired on South American TV, earning them a huge following and they were invited to star in Showmatch.

"I told them I would only do it if I could come home every couple of months to visit my family, and they agreed," she said.

"I was treated like a star — everywhere I went people recognised me and Nicko, asking for autographs and having their picture taken with us, and we got so many gifts." On one occasion, she and Nicko were walking out of a shop when they were halted by a stern-faced policeman.

"I was panicked, I thought maybe we had forgotten to pay for something," she said.

"The policeman reached into his jacket pocket and I thought 'here we go'. Then he whipped out his mobile phone and asked someone walking past to take a picture."

The pair were voted off the show in October, while Paddy was at home in Spain for a family visit.

Nicko and Paddy have been invited to salsa congresses all over the world, including Israel, Acapulco, California and all across Europe. Their reputation precedes them and when they were enjoying a night out at the Copacabana during a congress in New York the management asked them to do a demonstration for the crowd.

"We also danced at the Colosseum when we were visiting Rome — not officially, but to prove to a couple who didn't believe him when he told them what we did," she added.

Paddy has now also earned herself a place in history, securing a place in the 2011 Guinness Book of World Records.

According to the book, she is officially the oldest salsa dancer in the world — and she has the medal to prove it. "That was amazing, to be part of that. My dad used to read the Guinness book to me when I was little so it's just incredible," she said.

Paddy got her nickname when an Irish doctor told her mother at birth that the name Sarah was too old-fashioned, and insisted her middle name be Patricia.