WHEN it comes to fancy footwork, it definitely runs in the family.

But while his dad used his talents to make him a star on the football pitch, Kai Widdrington is using his skills to become a star on one of the biggest programmes on television.

The 16-year-old ballroom dancer from Bassett, son of ex-Saints player Tommy Widdrington, has become an overnight sensation after wowing the judges on Britain’s Got Talent.

Having ditched the football pitch for the dance floor when he was a youngster, Kai’s hard work and determination in the ballroom over the years has seen him win the praise of Simon Cowell and his fellow judges on the hit ITV show.

Millions of television viewers tuned in as Barton Peveril student Kai and his partner Natalia Jeved, 15, performed a breathtaking Latin American dance at the show’s live auditions.

With their hyper-quick feet, the pair went down a storm, with Alesha Dixon praising the pair for making ballroom “modern” and “current” and David Walliams calling them “utterly mesmerising”.

Kai and Natalia, who both train at A and L Dance Studios, in Hedge End, have been dancing together for two years after Natalia moved from her home in Cyprus to live with Kai’s family to ensure they could train as often as possible.

They have already tasted success after becoming under 16 World Champions but now they want to hit the big time and perform for the Queen at the Royal Variety Performance.

His dad Tommy, former Southampton midfielder and now manager at Eastbourne, said: “I am so proud of them both and it’s so great to see them get such a fantastic reaction.

I’ve told him that he has got to enjoy what’s happening because it could last ten minutes or ten years.

“I think Kai came across really well, wanting to make that type of dancing cool and I really think he did that.

“He is a very talented sportsman and there are many similarities between football and dancing. You have got to be fit, have self discipline and willing to work all the hours available.

I’d like to think he got his athletic side from me.

“This is his reward for all that hard work he has put into it and we are just hoping that he makes the live semi-finals and if he does, then I hope the whole of Southampton will get behind him.”

The pair, who say they have a brother-sister relationship, are now in the last 250 acts and will have to wait to see if they are one of the final 25 acts to be chosen to appear on the live semi-final shows.