Akai Osei (born 12 April 1999) is a British actor, dancer, presenter and musician, who is best known for winning the first series of ''

Got to Dance ''Got to Dance'', originally titled ''Just Dance'', is a British dance competition that was broadcast on Sky One in the United Kingdom from 20 December 2009 to 28 December 2014. Auditions for the show were held in specially built "Dance Domes" ...

'' in February 2010. It is reported that he was inspired 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 Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...

Diversity Diversity, diversify, or diverse may refer to: Business *Diversity (business), the inclusion of people of different identities (ethnicity, gender, age) in the workforce *Diversity marketing, marketing communication targeting diverse customers * ...

, Flawless and

Chris Brown Christopher Maurice Brown (born May 5, 1989) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actor. A Pop music, pop and hip-hop-influenced contemporary R&B, R&B musician who works in a variety of genres, he has been called the "Honorific nic ...

. Akai joined the acting scene shortly after winning ''

''. He appears in the film ''

StreetDance 3D ''StreetDance 3D'' (also called ''StreetDance'') is a 2010 British 3D comedy drama film directed by Max Giwa and Dania Pasquini, and written by Jane English. It was released on 21 May 2010 in RealD 3D, XpanD 3D and Dolby 3D. ''Britain's Got Tale ...

'' alongside Diversity,

George Sampson George William Sampson (born 29 June 1993) is an English street dancer, television presenter, singer, and actor. He won the second series of '' Britain's Got Talent'' on 31 May 2008 at the age of 14. He is an official ambassador of the Unite ...

and Flawless, and its sequel, ''

StreetDance 2 ''StreetDance 2'' is a 2012 3D British dance drama film and the sequel to ''StreetDance 3D'' (2010). The film has been released in RealD 3D, XpanD 3D and Dolby 3D with Max Giwa and Dania Pasquini returning to direct. ''Britain's Got Talent'' st ...

''. Osei also appeared in Boy Blue Entertainment's street dance

hip-hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hi ...

show ''Pied Piper – A Hip-Hop Dance Revolution''. Osei appeared in the music video for the

N-Dubz N-Dubz are an English hip-hop trio from Camden Town, London, England, consisting of cousins Dappy and Tulisa, and their friend Fazer. After winning a MOBO Award for Best Newcomer in 2007, N-Dubz briefly signed with Polydor Records before j ...

song "

We Dance On "We Dance On" is a song performed by British hip hop group N-Dubz, released as the group's eleventh overall single and the lead single from their third studio album, '' Love.Live.Life''. The song was also the second single released from the sound ...

" in 2010, which was the main song on the soundtrack for the film ''StreetDance 3D''. He also appeared in an advert for

Ministry of Sound Ministry of Sound or Ministry of Sound Group is a multimedia entertainment business based in London with a nightclub, shared workspace and private members' club, worldwide events operation, music publisher (popular music), music publishing busin ...

Street Dance 2010 CD. Osei has joined the cast of '' Into the Hoods''. Osei appeared on ''

Blue Peter ''Blue Peter'' is a British children's television entertainment programme created by John Hunter Blair. It is the longest-running children's TV show in the world, having been broadcast since October 1958. It was broadcast primarily from BBC ...

'' in mid 2010 and also featured in the annual dance show "Streets Ahead" in London 2010, which featured many dance crews and schools, including Peridot. He is featured in the song by

Wretch 32 Jermaine Sinclaire Scott (born 9 March 1985), better known by his stage name Wretch 32, is a British rapper, singer and songwriter from Tottenham, North London. He was a member of the grime collective Combination Chain Gang, before forming The ...

, ''Unorthodox'', featuring

Example Example may refer to: * ''exempli gratia'' (e.g.), usually read out in English as "for example" * .example, reserved as a domain name that may not be installed as a top-level domain of the Internet ** example.com, example.net, example.org, an ...

. He is seen dancing on a rooftop. In July 2011, Akai was a judge on a talent show on

Disney Channel Disney Channel is an American pay television television channel, channel that serves as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Company ...

, called ''Shake It Up Dance Dance''. His most recent work was starring in

CBBC CBBC is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the brand used for all BBC content for children aged 6 to 12. Its sister c ...

's ''

4 O'Clock Club ''4 O'Clock Club'' is a British comedy drama and musical children's television series set in a secondary school, which premiered on 13 January 2012 on CBBC. Background In March 2011, auditions were held for ''4 O'Clock Club'', and the show was ...

'' playing Josh's cousin, Nero. From Series 4 to Series 7, he stars as the show's main character as to previously being a series regular in the third series. He also made a guest appearance in Series 8 His character left in the fourth episode of Season 7, because his character was moved to America with his temporal guardian and his girlfriend but he returned as a guest appearance in Series 8 as well as appearing in the Flashbacks for Series 7 and 8 (2018–2020).

Television

Filmography

Awards and nominations

, - , 2011 , Honorary Award , Young Achiever Award , BEFFTA , , , , - , 2014 , ''

'' , Best Children's Performer , ''

BAFTA The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...

'' , , Role: Nero Johnson ,

References

1999 births Living people British hip-hop dancers English male rappers Black British male rappers English people of Ghanaian descent Actors from the London Borough of Lambeth Rappers from the London Borough of Lambeth 21st-century British dancers Male actors from London People from Lambeth Singers from the London Borough of Lambeth {{England-bio-stub