TikTok Musician Makes History as First Dhol Drummer on Strictly Come Dancing

In a groundbreaking moment, a 19-year-old TikTok musician from Wolverhampton, Josh Kapur, has become the first dhol drum player to perform on the hit TV show Strictly Come Dancing. Kapur, who has almost 300,000 followers on TikTok, was given the opportunity after actress Balvinder Sopal chose to dance to Ed Sheeran's song "Sapphire" and "really wanted a dhol player" for the routine.

Kapur's big break came when Sheeran himself reposted a TikTok video of the teenager playing the dhol to one of the singer-songwriter's latest hits. This exposure led to Kapur's "once in a lifetime" experience of taking the Strictly stage and representing his culture in front of a live audience.

"Being on stage for the first time, on live television, representing my culture and my family, was the best," Kapur said. "I felt like a celebrity." The performance was praised by Sopal and her partner Julian Caillon, who said Kapur's playing "brought the heartbeat" to the routine.

Despite the pressure of performing with the show's live band, Kapur nailed his part, thanks to a week of intense rehearsals. The 19-year-old, who is a second-year maths and computer science student at the University of Birmingham, hopes to take his musical talent "to the next level" in the future, perhaps even performing alongside Sheeran.