We owe it to my mum, says hoodie whose dance group took Britain's Got Talent by storm

Choreographer Fiona Richardson, mother of FLAVA's founding member Kyle, made sure her son throve on the music he loved – and taught him to dance.

The success of the band in front of nine million TV viewers may soften some attitudes towards teenagers in hooded tops as a whole – with some dubbing them 'goodie hoodies'.

FLAVA of the month: The troupe appear on Britain's Got Talent with presenters Ant and Dec. Dancer Kyle, left, faces mother Fiona, right in the hat (Ken McKay / Talkback Thames)

Britain's Got Talent judge Simon Cowell told them on the ITV1 show: 'You have made hoodies acceptable,' calling them 'incredible representatives of what is good in young people in this country'.

In tonight's extended edition - which includes the final auditions – FLAVA are hoping to win through to the semi-final live rounds.

Ultimately they have the chance to perform at the Royal Variety Show.

Dancer Kyle, 18, who founded FLAVA four years ago, says his mother deserves the most credit – and even used to ask him to turn his music UP!

'I owe it all to my mum - she taught me how to dance and has helped me discover a lot about myself,' he said.

'People join gangs to express how they feel, but it's easier to do it through dance. You don't need knives and drugs - just friends and music.'

Moment of glory: FLAVA perform on last night's show (Ken McKay / Talkback Thames)

Free of all the worst vices attributed to hoodies, Kyle doesn't drink, smoke or use drugs. He says: 'I don't know why anyone would do that to themselves.

Fiona, 35, who runs a dance studio in Penzance, Cornwall, put together the FLAVA dance routine that wowed TV audiences, set to Run DMC's It's Like That.

Today at her B Famous studio Fiona said she had already had calls offering FLAVA work as a result of last night's show.

'I've just had Phats & Small on the phone - they want me to choreograph their next video with FLAVA as the backing dance group,' she told the Mirror newspaper.

Fiona has been married for the last five years but for Kyle's earlier life raised him as a single mother.

She admits to making 'loads of mistakes' in her youth in Glasgow but adds: 'Perhaps that's the secret. I'm determined to help Kyle not to make the same mistakes.'

Proud: Mother Fiona watches Kyle and his group strut their hip hop stuff with Ant and Dec (Ken McKay / Talkback Thames)

She said the band had been rehearsing their next routine into the small hours last night and added: 'This is my dream come true. Kyle and the others are shattered, but they are so up for it.

'They keep asking me, "Why do people like us so much?" The answer is that they have just worked long and hard.'

In her turn, Fiona was raised single-handedly by a mother who want the best for her.

'She'd drag me around the country to dance competitions in her battered old Mini and held down three jobs at a time to do it,' she said.

'She'd do cleaning, waitressing, working in bars - anything to pay the bills. It's a work ethic I've inherited and I suppose it has rubbed off on Kyle and all the other kids.'

When Kyle started dance he was playing rugby. His mother said: 'It wasn't seen as cool for a teenage boy to be into dance - but then it all just snowballed and his friends joined in.'

Britain's Got Talent is on ITV1 tonight at 8pm, with live shows nightly from Monday at 9pm.