A beatboxing maestro has declared his appearance on a TV talent show a resounding success - despite not scooping the top prize.

Darren Foreman, aka Beardyman, came second on Graham Norton's When Will I Be Famous after being asked to appear on the BBC1 show by producers.

Beatboxing is the art of replicating drum sounds, vinyl record scratching and many other noises with the use of your voice and hands, a talent Darren discovered he had when he was a child.

The 24-year-old, who lives in Lewes Road, Brighton, said: "I started at the age of three blowing raspberries and just made noise really. I came to Sussex University in 2001 and my mate played me a CD by Rahzel and I thought, "I can do that".

"It was all good from there. I got a couple of gigs then some more and it has never really stopped."

Five years later and Darren, who got his stage name by sporting a beard in his early days, was crowned the UK Beatbox Champion 2006. He has been a professional full-time beatboxer for the last three years.

The philosophy graduate was contacted by producers of the TV show and after accepting the invite, Darren had to fight his corner to stop them meddling with his act.

He said: "It was so cheesy. They wanted me to wear a headset and do a little spin on the stage. I had to resist them at every stage just to come out of it with a little bit of credibility."

With his battle won, Darren wowed the audience and an estimated 7 million viewers to come second. People had to call into the show to vote for their favourite act.

Darren was beaten by The Skating Aratas, a brother and sister rollerskating duo.

Despite feeling disappointed at not winning, Darren said it was really a blessing in disguise as he would have had to return the following week and turn work down in the meantime.

He said: "It was really close apparently. It's good that I got as far as I did and it was great to beat an opera singer.

"I don't really care. It showed a lot of people what beatboxing is all about and that's what I really cared about."

Darren has a number of projects in the pipeline such as an album for 2008 and possibly a tour as a supporting act.

For now Darren is happy to be on the fringes of the mainstream.

He added: "I don't want to be the BBC's poster boy of beatboxing or appear on This Morning or meet Richard and Judy."

Beardyman will be appearing at BattleJam at Audio in Madiera Drive, Brighton on February 28 and again at BattleJam on March 30 at the Pressure Point in Richmond Place, Brighton.