Ashley Glazebrook and Glen Murphy, better known by their stage name (s) Twist and Pulse, are an English street dance duo based in London. They were the runners-up of the fourth series of ''Britain's Got Talent'' in 2010, coming second to

Spelbound Spelbound are a gymnastic troupe from the United Kingdom who rose to fame in 2010, winning the fourth series of ''Britain's Got Talent''. The prize was £100,000 and the opportunity to appear at the 2010 Royal Variety Performance. They also ...

in the live final, but later won the spinoff show '' Britain's Got Talent: The Champions'' in 2019, becoming the ''Champion of Champions''. In 2012, they presented and performed at every date of the 70-day

Olympic Torch Relay The Olympic torch relay is the ceremonial relaying of the Olympic flame from Olympia, Greece, to the site of an Olympic Games. It was first performed at the 1936 Summer Olympics, and has taken place prior to every Games since. Although in the pa ...

Tour and also at the

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per side) and "doubles" (with two players p ...

and

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Sum ...

events at the London 2012 Summer Olympics.

Origin

Ashley Glazebrook (aka Twist) was born 28 March 1991 in

Sidcup Sidcup is an area of south-east London, England, primarily in the London Borough of Bexley. It is south-east of Charing Cross, bordering the London Boroughs of Bromley and Greenwich. Before the creation of Greater London in 1965, it was in the ...

, London. He has two brothers and four step-brothers. From a young age he loved music, especially by

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...

. At the

Business Academy Bexley Harris Garrard Academy (formerly Business Academy Bexley) is a 4–18 mixed, all-through school and sixth form with academy status in Thamesmead, Erith, Greater London, England. It was established in 2002 and is part of the Harris Federati ...

Secondary School, Glazebrook began to show an interest in dance and joined a local street dance group, performing at events such as the Streetdance Weekend UK Championships and the World Hip Hop Championships in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

. Glen Murphy (aka Pulse) was born in 1990 at

Guy's Hospital Guy's Hospital is an NHS hospital in the borough of Southwark in central London. It is part of Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust and one of the institutions that comprise the King's Health Partners, an academic health science centre. ...

in London. He attended Dalmain Primary School and Forest Hill School. Glazebrook and Murphy met at the BRIT School of Performing Arts and Technology where they were both studying for a

BTEC National Diploma The BTEC (Business and Technology Education Council) Level 3 diploma is a Further Education qualification and vocational qualification taken in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The qualification is organised and awarded by Pearson within the ...

in dance, training in ballet, tap dance, contemporary and jazz dance. Glazebrook was studying for his

A level The A-Level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational au ...

s as well. They discovered they shared a wacky sense of humour and quickly became best friends. With college coming to an end, they formed a duo called the Cheeky Boiz, and began rehearsing their "streetomedy" performances – a blend of streetdance and comedy which led to appearing in the finals of ''Britain's Got Talent'' in 2010. They performed on the '' Daybreak'' morning show on ITV, in the week leading up to the 2011 ''Britain's Got Talent.''

''Britain's Got Talent''

Twist and Pulse took the auditions by storm with their unique dance style "streetcomedy", a fusion of street dance and comedy. Their dancing to the '' EastEnders'' theme and

The Cheeky Girls The Cheeky Girls are a Romanian singing duo consisting of identical twin sisters Gabriela and Monica Irimia (both born 31 October 1982). After appearing as auditionees on '' Popstars: The Rivals'', they achieved success in the UK charts with fou ...

' "Touch My Bum" received three "yes" votes from the judges at their London audition. They went on to sail through the auditions and semi-final and finished as runners-up. Declan "Dec" Donnelly said, "These two guys come on and dance to the EastEnders theme tune. That's clever and new." Anthony "Ant" McPartlin laughed, "It took me back 15 years ago to when me and Dec were PJ and Duncan but they could actually dance!" Dec chimed in, "If they can present a TV show, we're screwed!" Twist and Pulse returned for '' Britain's Got Talent: The Champions'' in 2019, and, after receiving the Golden Buzzer from

Alesha Dixon Alesha Anjanette Dixon (born 7 October 1978) is an English singer, rapper, dancer, television personality, and author. She gained recognition in the early 2000s as a member of the R&B, garage and hip hop group Mis-Teeq. The group disbanded i ...

, they won the show outright over top 3 rivals BGT's Stavros Flatley and Ukraine's Got Talent winner Kseniya Simonova. This makes them the first golden buzzer acts to also win first place in the

Britain's Got Talent ''Britain's Got Talent'' (often abbreviated to ''BGT'') is a televised British talent show competition, and part of the global ''Got Talent'' franchise created by Simon Cowell. Presented by Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly (colloqui ...

brand.

TV appearances

In 2010 Twist and Pulse's TV appearances included ITV's '' Magic Numbers'', where they did a dance that was made up from music from blockbuster films such as ''

The Matrix ''The Matrix'' is a 1999 science fiction action film written and directed by the Wachowskis. It is the first installment in ''The Matrix'' film series, starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving, and Joe Pantolia ...

'', ''

Titanic RMS ''Titanic'' was a British passenger liner, operated by the White Star Line, which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, Unit ...

'' and '' Pirates of the Caribbean''. They also appeared on '' The 5 O'Clock Show'', '' This Morning'', '' Teen Nick'', and ''The Seven Thirty Show'' on UTV. In April 2011, Twist and Pulse were guests on

Keith Lemon Keith may refer to: People and fictional characters * Keith (given name), includes a list of people and fictional characters * Keith (surname) * Keith (singer), American singer James Keefer (born 1949) * Baron Keith, a line of Scottish barons ...

's ITV2 show, '' Celebrity Juice''. On 30 September 2011 they performed and won on CBBC's ''

The Slammer ''The Slammer'' (also known as ''The Slammer Returns'' for its final two series) is a children's talent show sitcom that was broadcast on BBC One and CBBC from 22 September 2006 until 26 July 2014. Set in a fictional prison called HM Slammer, ...

'' Season 4, episode 3 - "Slammer Grannies". They returned to ''Britain's Got Talent'' in 2012 with their own dance troupe, Twist and Pulse Dance Company, which reached the live semi-finals. They appeared on the US TV show ''

Jodie Marsh Jodie Louise Marsh is an English media personality, model and bodybuilder. She has appeared on numerous reality television shows, such as ''Essex Wives'' (2002), ''Back to Reality'' (2004), '' Love on a Saturday Night'' (2004), ''Celebrity Big ...

Brawn'' as special guest choreographers, choreographing her world championship body building routine which she won. In 2013, Twist and Pulse travelled over to China to perform for their biggest streetdance TV show on

CCTV News CGTN (formerly known as CCTV-9 and CCTV News) is a state-run English-language news channel based in Beijing, China. It is one of six channels provided by China Global Television Network, owned by the Chinese state broadcaster China Central T ...

, which aired to over 400,000,000 viewers. In March 2013, Twist and Pulse appeared on BBC One's ''

Let's Dance for Comic Relief ''Let's Sing and Dance'', formerly known as ''Let's Dance'', is a British television programme shown on BBC One, featuring celebrities performing famous dance routines to raise money for the charities Comic Relief and Sport Relief. The programme ...

'' with Lee Nelson. They danced to a "Swan Lake Hip-Hop Remix" produced by Glen Murphy. They were saved by the dance panel and went to the final. In February 2019, Twist and Pulse made up part of a team on

ITV1 ITV1 (formerly known as ITV) is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the British media company ITV plc. It provides the Channel 3 public broadcast service across all of the United Kingdom except for t ...

's ''

Tenable ''Tenable'' is a British game show, presented by Warwick Davis and Sally Lindsay, airing on ITV since 14 November 2016. On each episode, five contestants attempt to win up to £125,000 by filling in lists of 10 items each. A celebrity version ...

''. They competed in '' Britain's Got Talent: The Champions'' on 28 September 2019, where they received a golden buzzer from

. They were voted as the winners in the final, broadcast on 5 October 2019.

Live performances

Twist and Pulse toured with BGT Live, visiting 14 towns. Since then, they have been all over the country performing, including at the Midlands Music Festival where they were watched by an audience of 20,000. They did a summer tour of all three

Butlin's Butlin's is a chain of large Seaside resort, seaside resorts in the United Kingdom. Butlin's was founded by Billy Butlin to provide affordable holidays for ordinary British families. Between 1936 and 1966, ten camps were built, including one ...

holiday camps and were booked for celebrity weddings and private parties. In December 2010,

BBC NI BBC Northern Ireland ( ga, BBC Thuaisceart Éireann; Ulster-Scots: ''BBC Norlin Airlan'') is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Northern Ireland. It is widely available across both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ire ...

invited Twist and Pulse to perform live on ''

Children in Need 2010 Children in Need 2010 was a campaign held in the United Kingdom to raise money for Children in Need. 2010 marked the 30th anniversary of the appeal which culminated in a live broadcast on BBC One and ITV1 which began on the evening of Friday 19 N ...

'' in front of a large crowd at the

Odyssey The ''Odyssey'' (; grc, Ὀδύσσεια, Odýsseia, ) is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Iliad'', th ...

. In 2011 they supported

Jedward John and Edward Grimes (born 16 October 1991), collectively known as Jedward (a portmanteau of their first names), are an Irish singing and television presenting duo. They are identical twins who first appeared as John & Edward in the sixth ...

on their fourth Irish tour in August, called 'The Carnival Tour'. This included ten dates, and on the main stage at

T4 on the Beach T4 on the Beach was an annual British one-day music event which was held on the beach at Weston-super-Mare and televised on Channel 4. The event began in 2003 as Pop Beach in Great Yarmouth, changing to the current title and venue in 2005. The d ...

. They had been touring with the

Olympic Torch The Olympic flame is a symbol used in the Olympic movement. It is also a symbol of continuity between ancient and modern games. Several months before the Olympic Games, the Olympic flame is lit at Olympia, Greece. This ceremony starts the Olym ...

for 67 dates and performing every night at the torch stopovers, playing to crowds of up to 70,000 per night. They were invited to perform at the basketball, badminton and volleyball venues during the

London 2012 Olympic Games The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. Twist and Pulse opened the Children's BAFTAs with a performance and presented the award for 'Learning – Secondary'.

Pantomime

Between December 2013 and January 2014, they were cast as 'PC Hip' and 'PC Hop' in the

Theatre Royal Windsor The Theatre Royal is an Edwardian theatre on Thames Street in Windsor in Berkshire. The present building is the second theatre to stand on this site and opened on 13 December 1910. Built for Sir Wiliam Shipley and Captain Reginald Shipley, it was ...

pantomime production of ''Aladdin''; (produced by Bill Kenwright), and then in December 2014 at the Chatham Theatre pantomime production of ''Aladdin'', (with

Todd Carty Todd Carty also known as Todd John Jennings (born Todd Robert Carty; 31 August 1963) is an English actor and director who has grown up on television screens in a variety of roles. His stage appearances have ranged from pantomime to serious dram ...

, produced by Jordan Productions). Then they were cast in December 2015 as 'Pirate Swash' and 'Pirate Buckle' in the Devonshire Park Theatre in the Eastbourne pantomime production of ''

Peter Pan Peter Pan is a fictional character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie. A free-spirited and mischievous young boy who can fly and never grows up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood having adventures on the mythi ...

'', and in the November - January 2017, at the

Gordon Craig Theatre The Gordon Craig Theatre is the only major theatre in Stevenage, Hertfordshire. Opened in 1975, the 501-seat theatre on Lytton Way houses its own rehearsal room, scenic workshop, wardrobe, cafe, bar, art gallery and restaurant. Overview The ...

in the Stevenage pantomime production of ''Peter Pan''. In 2018 they were cast as 'PC Hip' and 'PC Hop' in Jordan Productions Aladdin at the lighthouse theatre Kettering. They also Choreographed and had their directing debut. In 2019 they were cast as PC Hip & Hop at the King's Lynn Corn Exchange.

Choreography

Twist and Pulse have always choreographed their own routines. In 2012, their dance company TPDC (Twist and Pulse Dance Company) competed in series 6 of ''

'', and made it to the semi-finals. In 2015 they choreographed their first full

pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and (to a lesser extent) in other English-speaking ...

, ''

'', in the

Gordon Craig theatre The Gordon Craig Theatre is the only major theatre in Stevenage, Hertfordshire. Opened in 1975, the 501-seat theatre on Lytton Way houses its own rehearsal room, scenic workshop, wardrobe, cafe, bar, art gallery and restaurant. Overview The ...

which ran for ten weeks. In 2016 they choreographed 'Jack and the Beanstalk' in the

as well as a production of 'Snow White' at the Lighthouse Theatre in Kettering. In 2017 they choreographed a production of 'Snow White' in the

and 'Aladdin' at the Lighthouse Theatre in Kettering.

Brand work

They helped launch

Renault Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufacture ...

's new electric car, the "

Renault Twizy The Renault Twizy is a two-seat Electric vehicle, electric microcar designed and marketed by Renault. It is classified in Europe as either a Motorised quadricycle#Light quadricycles (L6e), light or Motorised quadricycle#Heavy quadricycles (L7e), h ...

", in Covent Garden. They appeared in

Canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western ca ...

's commercial for the new Legria Mini. Twist and Pulse have worked with Red Bull, Red Bull BC One, Kellogg's,

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

The Brit Awards The BRIT Awards (often simply called the BRITs) are the British Phonographic Industry's annual popular music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain", or "Britannia" (in the early days the awards were sponsored ...

, Cadbury, EE,

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

, Lego,

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American multinational fast food chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechristened their business as a hambur ...

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Roman god of war. Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin at ...

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

, Sky One,

Specsavers Specsavers Optical Group Ltd is a British multinational optical retail chain, which operates mainly in the UK, Ireland, Australasia and the Nordic countries. The chain offers optometry and optician services for eyesight testing and sells gl ...

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

Lionsgate Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation, doing business as Lionsgate, is a Canadian-American entertainment company. It was formed by Frank Giustra on July 10, 1997, domiciled in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and is currently headquartered ...

Samsung The Samsung Group (or simply Samsung) ( ko, 삼성 ) is a South Korean multinational manufacturing conglomerate headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul, South Korea. It comprises numerous affiliated businesses, most of them united under the ...

Sennheiser Sennheiser electronic GmbH & Co. KG (, ) is a German privately held audio company specializing in the design and production of a wide range of high fidelity products, including microphones, headphones, telephone accessories and aviation headse ...

and Juice Burst.

Charity work

In December 2010,

invited Twist and Pulse to perform live on ''

'' in front of a large crowd at the

. In June 2011, they performed at many schools in England to promote their new single "Jump". They helped the charity Fairbridge to raise money with two flash mobs at

St Katharine Docks St Katharine Docks is a former dock and now a mixed-used district in Central London, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets and within the East End. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, immediately downstream of the Tower of London an ...

and

Marble Arch The Marble Arch is a 19th-century white marble-faced triumphal arch in London, England. The structure was designed by John Nash in 1827 to be the state entrance to the cour d'honneur of Buckingham Palace; it stood near the site of what is toda ...

. They also performed at

Bluewater Shopping Centre Bluewater Shopping Centre (commonly referred to as Bluewater) is an out-of-town shopping centre in Stone (postally Greenhithe), Kent, England, outside the M25 motorway, east south east of London's centre. Opened on 16 March 1999 in a former chal ...

as part of the Children in Need event. In the week of the live finals, they appeared as contestants on ''

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? ''Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?'' (often informally called ''Millionaire'') is an international television game show franchise of British origin, created by David Briggs, Mike Whitehill and Steven Knight. In its format, currently owned and l ...

'', where they won £5,000 for the Danceaid charity. Twist and Pulse are also ambassadors with the Diana Award youth charity.

Guinness World Record

Twist and Pulse earned a Guinness World Record for the most synchronised moves done in 30 seconds, with 130 moves.

Recording career

Having spent a year writing and producing their own records, the duo released their first single, "Jump", on 3 July 2011.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Twist And Pulse Britain's Got Talent contestants English dancers