Newport's Lola prepares for TV debut in series on Wolverhampton school

Lola Norton, aged 6, is one of only six youngsters at the Zig Zag Dance Academy to feature in Baby Ballroom, a series examining the work of the Wolverhampton-based school.

Lola and her dance partner Arlo beat out 106 other couples around the UK to make it on the program, and two months of filming finished earlier this month.

And Lola's family, based in Newport, can't wait to see the fruits of the hard work she and Arlo have put into their craft.

Dad Rich Norton said: "It's been a bit of a whirlwind last few months and filming has just finished.

"Lola has worked so hard. They've filmed all of their performances, their lessons and their shows over the last eight weeks.

"We've all been involved in the process, with interviews and things like that."

Lola and Arlo will play background roles in Baby Ballroom's Christmas special, due to air over the festive period, before taking centre stage as one of three couples to be the focus of the second series due to air in February or March.

Zig Zag Dance Academy and owner Warren Bullock were also the subject of the first series of Baby Ballroom, which aired in April this year.

Lola herself only began ballroom dancing last Christmas, and the Nortons weren't aware of Warren's professional experience when she started attending Zig Zag.

Rich explained: "She had done ballet dancing all her life, and was getting a bit bored so wanted to try ballroom.

"We couldn't find any ballroom classes around Telford, the closest we could find was Zig Zag in Wolverhampton.

"So we took her along and she absolutely loved it. We didn't know Warren was a highly-respected dancer when she started, but eventually he approached us and told us Lola had real potential."

The Baby Ballroom Christmas Special will air on Channel 5 first at 9pm on December 20, and then again several times on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.