Welsh singer 'dropped' from China's Got Talent

A Welsh university lecturer who made it to the last 16 of 'China's Got Talent' has claimed he's been 'dropped' by show producers.

Cardiff-born Iain Ingles became a must-see TV celebrity across China after delighting millions with an array of renditions of red revolutionary songs.

Dressed in a Red Army uniform and singing songs extolling the virtues of chairman Mao and socialism, he reached the show’s semi-final.

However he now claims he's been dumped out of the competition with no explanation.

"As far as I knew, I was through to the final round," he told Wales Online.

"But the day before I was due to perform, I got a phone call saying the Bureau of Broadcasting had said I wasn't able to go on.

"There was no real reason given – perhaps they weren't very keen on having a foreigner singing songs about communism.

"Of course, I was very disappointed, but that's just how it is. I wasn't very surprised."

Despite the reaction, the 30-year-old has captured the hearts of Chinese TV audiences and is in demand across the country.

“It was a bit of fun to start off ith but the more performances I did, the more I was hooked," he said.

“For some reason the Chinese people seem to find it quite hilarious.”

Mr Ingles, a Russian and German language graduate, lives on the tropical Chinese island of Hanya with his wife, Yu Yanling.

His unusual choice of singing material stems from a CD of red songs bought while on holiday in China and which he later learned.