Britain’s Got Talent goes on the road next week, starting in Manchester. We spoke to winners Spelbound as they catapult to international fame.

A FEW weeks ago we were just training and doing competitions. No-one knew what we were about.

And now suddenly everyone knows our name,” said Alex Buckingham.

At 21, the sports centre manager is one of the older members of Spelbound, winners of Britain’s Got Talent 2010 and this year’s headliners of the UK tour hosted by Paddy McGuinness.

From human skipping ropes to balancing one-handed on each other’s heads, Spelbound pulled out all the stops to win the chance to perform in front of the Queen at the Royal Variety Show.

In a breathtaking move, Buckingham and his dance partner threw another member of the troupe over the heads of judges Simon Cowell, Piers Morgan and Amanda Holden in last Saturday’s live final.

But feats of this sort don’t come without a price. The 13 acrobatics, aged from 12 to 24, all put in at least 20 hours of training a week on top of their jobs and schooling.

“It’s hard work. We work 40 hours a week and then train 20 or so, which means there’s not much time for socialising,” said Buckingham, who has been a gymnast since he was four years old. “We have quite a sensible diet and train every day, with weights for the lifters and trampoline work for the jumpers.

“We sometimes treat ourselves to a Burger King but mainly we’re very good,” he laughed.

Since their win, Spelbound have been inundated with offers from America, including US rapper Usher asking if they could teach him some moves. Last year’s BGT winners Diversity have asked to train at Spelbound’s Heathrow Gymnastics Club. And they are being considered for a role in the London Olympic opening ceremony.

It is a dream of the group to one day compete in the Olympics.

Gymnastics coach Adam McAssey, Buckingham’s partner, said: “It’s ultimate dream to compete in the Olympic Games. We want them to include acro as a competitive event and we want to go in for it. Great Britain are actually very strong in this sport. We do very well in competitions and we could do well enough to get a medal in the Olympics.”

Artistic gymnastics is a recognised Olympic sport, but acrobatic gymnastics is not on the list. So the gymnasts have to pay their way to enter competitions around the world and are not eligible for National Lottery funding.

They do not usually perform as a group and are made up of a male foursome, female trio and three pairs but came together for the show in an attempt to put acrobatic gymnastics on the map.

McAssey, 21, added: “We just want to get acrobatics out there. We weren’t even sure how people would take us. It was a very nerve-wracking moment waiting for the names to be called out at weekend. And it’s been a bit crazy since we won. Everyone knows what we’re about now and that’s what we’ve been aiming for.”

For the live TV shows Spelbound were on stage for one and a half minutes, but for the tour they hope to extend their daredevil set to five minutes.

The look on the judges' faces was priceless when we sent Edward over their heads, and then they turned round and saw us. We wanted to add a little wow factor and we’ll be hopefully aiming to do something more for the tour,” explained Buckingham.

“It’s a big responsibility to do all the lifting and throwing the others into the air, but there is a lot of trust and we practise a lot so it doesn’t go wrong and everyone stays safe.”

Spelbound will be joined on the Britain’s Got Talent Live Tour by all of this year’s finalists; Christopher Stone, Connected, Janey Cutler, Kieran Gaffney, Liam McNally, Paul Burling, Tina and Chandi, Tobias Mead and Twist and Pulse.

This year’s 15-day tour, which kicks off in Manchester on June 19, is set to be even bigger and better than previous years, with live show feed on big screens for the first time.

l BRITAIN’S GOT TALENT – THE LIVE TOUR 2010 — MEN Arena, Manchester, Saturday, June 19, 2.30pm and 7.30pm. Tickets on 0844 847 8000.