Yorkshire’s real-life Billy Elliott beats the girls to ballet title

James Buckley, 13, who was bullied at school because of his love of dance and won a Dragon’s Den investment for his anti-bullying campaign, won the South and West Yorkshire Ballet Championships as the only male entrant.

James, who has overcome ME, trains for four hours every Wednesday and Friday, proving his prowess at the ballet barre doing warm-up exercises, and for six hours on Saturdays.

He has been dancing with the Strickland Cook Theatre School in his home town of Halifax, since he was three. His mother Vanessa, 38, said: “I’m very proud of him for winning. He’s so determined and he works so hard, it was good to see it pay off.

“He’s always performed from the moment he could walk. It was just a case of finding him the right place.”

The feat is all the more remarkable because James, who also played Walt in the BBC series Robin Hood, found early days at school tough as he was bullied at primary school for his dancing ambitions.

The Look for Loneliness anti-bullying campaign, which James founded, got the backing of former Dragon James Caan, who gave him £5,000 to set up his business during a Children in Need Junior Dragon’s Den special in 2007 when James was just 10.

James has now set his sights on learning about psychiatry to help bullied youngsters.