A DANCER from Brent is to get his small screen debut as part of a reality show competition watched by millions of viewers.

Matthew Holt, of Hanover Road, Kensal Rise, is a self-taught dancer who will appear on the Sky 1 television contest, Got To Dance, on Sunday.

The Queens Park Community School student said he started dancing two years ago after being inspired by a video on YouTube.

He performed on stage at the O2 Arena, in Greenwich, this week in front of a panel of judges of Ashley Banjo, a street dancer and choreographer from the troupe Diversity, former Pussycat Doll Kimberly Wyatt and Aston Merrygold from pop group JLS.

The 17-year-old, who goes by the stage name Mindtrick, told the Observer: “So far it has been one of the best experiences of my life. The adrenaline just keeps you going and I have never been in an atmosphere like that before. I have never really shown my dancing in public before and to take it to a scale like that was really amazing.”

The dancer performs a certain branch of body popping, which is known as animation, and involves clipped movements, which make the dancer look as animated as possible.

Matthew is currently studying for his A-levels in English literature and language, media studies, geography and art and said although he is hoping to become a professional dancer one day, he wants to complete his education.

He said: “I am hoping to use this experience as much as I can and do something I am really passionate about.”

The teenager remained tight lipped about whether he passed the initial auditions, which will be screened on Sunday, but if he is successful he will go through to the semi-finals, which will be shown in February.