Street dancer JP Omari has vowed the fly the flag for Brighton as he competes to win BBC1's Strictly Dance Fever competition.

The 24-year-old, who was born and raised in Rome, moved to Brighton in 1999 and studied international business at the city's university.

The show is watched by millions of people every week as nine couples compete to win the Saturday night challenge.

Before Strictly Dance Fever, JP was a dance development worker for South East Dance, based in Brighton, where he worked mainly with children in Moulsecoomb and Whitehawk.

He is now hoping to win the competition for the city he has grown to love.

JP said: "I started dancing when I was only three or four years old.

"When I got older I was planning to go into business but the call for dance was too strong.

"I was teaching dance to young people who were in hard-to-reach areas in East Brighton and it worked really well.

"I love Brighton and I don't intend to move away. It's so vibrant and such a cool place to be. It's London by the sea - you've got everything going on here.

"Now I will be giving Strictly Dance Fever my best for all my friends in Brighton."

JP, who will take to the floor on Saturday night with dancing partner Stacey Gaunt, has had no formal training and is self taught.

He is a member of several dance crews in Brighton, the main one being The Floor Crusaders.

He said: "The Floor Crusaders are my break dancing group. I started dancing with them in 2000. Last year we won the southern regional heat of the Battle of Britain dance competition.

"We are all spread across the world so it's difficult to get together. Two are from Brighton, one is from Chichester, one is from Brazil and one is from Belgium.

"But they are like my family. I will never stop dancing with them."

He said of the programme: "On Saturday we are dancing disco hustle. It has been quite tough learning these new types of dance but it's really good fun."

Watch JP on BBC1 at 8pm and 10pm tomorrow and at 9pm on BBC3.