A Teignmouth musician will star on national television this summer after being asked to compose a piece for a segment on Channel 4’s ‘8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown’.

Flamenco guitarist Adam Westcott was approached by the show’s producers earlier this year via a direct message on his Instagram account asking him to compose a 30-second piece of music to accompany a dancer for the show.

‘I came up with a few ideas and they loved them all,’ Adam said. The producers worked with Adam to combine elements from a couple of his proposals and the final piece is described by Adam as ‘a really solid piece’ of pure flamenco music with a lot of rhythm and pulse.

‘The crowd (at the recording) absolutely loved it,’ Adam added.

Adam, who performs on cruise ships, had to fly back from Singapore to record the show in Manchester at the end of March. After two days of travelling, Adam said ‘I was a bit tired, but I wasn’t going to let that stop me. It was a great experience.’

Adam’s music is part of a sketch with comedian and host Jimmy Carr. But Adam also got to meet other contestants in the Green Room including Bob Mortimer and Rachel Riley.

‘It was a great opportunity,’ Adam said. ‘A bit of airtime on a big programme is great for the profile and the CV,’ he added.

This isn’t Adam’s first taste of TV stardom. Back in 2016 he appeared on ITV’s Mr and Mrs, hosted by Philip Schofield. Adam has also performed at the Royal Albert Hall, where he supported Kenny G.

Born and raised in Teignmouth, Adam started playing the electric guitar after being inspired by artists such as Nirvana, Jeff Buckley and local band Muse.

However, a family holiday to Spain changed his musical direction.

‘A guitarist walked in and just unleashed this flamenco,’ Adam recalled. Amazed by the right-hand technique, Adam went over to speak to him and he kindly showed Adam some techniques. ‘I was still a beginner guitarist playing power chords and open chords, nothing majorly special, but seeing that guy playing flamenco was the start of it all’. When he returned from his holiday, Adam went straight down to Teignmouth library where he borrowed flamenco CDs and he started flamenco guitar lessons ‘and it went from there’.

In 2012, Adam’s life changed even more when he spent time learning from one of the flamenco greats, Manitas de Plata. The French gypsy guitarist was famed for his unique playing style and had a celebrity following.

Adam was keen to meet de Plata and, armed only with the knowledge that he lived near the Camargue area of southern France, he went on a potluck trip to the area, knocked on a few doors and eventually found him.

‘I just wanted to say hello and thank for the music,’ Adam said. ‘But then he invited me in and it turned into a wonderful week of him showing me these techniques and all these old photos and just playing guitar. It was an amazing experience.’

The ‘8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown’ show, featuring Adam, who will be dressed in a red shirt with a gold waistcoat, is likely to air in July.