BGT BROTHERS ON HOW To be a man is to be emotional ... that is what cancer battle dad taught us
TWO brothers who wowed the judges separately on Britain’s Got Talent last night have told how their brave dad’s cancer battle inspired them to chase their dreams.
Dancer Shameer Rayes, 19, performed a routine playing a doll that comes to life while Shaquille, 20, sang an original song about their dad Halil, 45.
And the brothers, from Manchester, have said his fight with cancer after being diagnosed in July spurred them on to audition in the contest.
Shaquille said: “As a kid, you never appreciate how strong your parents are. He’s never afraid to show us he’s in pain, or not doing well. He’s not scared to show his feelings. To be a man is to be emotional, that’s what he’s taught us.
“The bowel cancer spread to his liver so they couldn’t operate. The hardest part is seeing him go through the chemotherapy.
“He reduced it to get a better quality of life so he was present in our lives.”
Shameer added: “His diagnosis gave me a kick up the bum and made me want to follow my dreams more.”
Shaquille and Shameer both got four yeses from the judges – but only Shameer made it through to the semi-finals after their deliberations.
Yet there could be no doubt that both of them had done Halil proud.
Also in action last night were Dudley the dancing dog, who didn’t make it through, and dancers Futinity, who did.
The stage is now set for 40 acts to battle for the £250,000 prize and the chance to perform for the Queen at the Royal Variety Performance.
Millions will tune in over this week as the show goes live on ITV. And from tomorrow to Friday, the contenders will get whittled down every night until there are 10 left in Sunday’s final. The last acts standing will be desperate to impress judges Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden, Alesha Dixon and David Walliams.
Last year, 9.4million people watched as Tokio Myers was crowned the winner.
And this time around, father and son duo Jack, 12, and Tim Goodacre, 44, from Norwich are favourites.
We previously revealed how Tim already has a showbiz link, being married to England footie legend Paul Gascoigne’s sister Lindsay and the Tottenham star was an usher at their wedding.
He got so close to Gazza’s hardpartying inner circle that he was roped