Steps have offered the winner of a television talent show a spot on their tour. Airport worker Mark Kerrins has won the live final of BBC1’s Star For A Night. The 24-year-old said he was “absolutely ecstatic” to have won the contest. The show scoured the country to find the UK’s singing stars of the future and Mr Kerrins, of Wyke, Bradford, beat 12,000 hopefuls after a series of nationwide heats. His version of the classic Lean On Me won almost 154,000 of the 800,000 votes recorded after the final, featuring 12 finalists. At one stage more than 80,000 people a minute were calling in, a BBC spokesman said. Steps also phoned in – to offer Kerrins a space on their upcoming tour. And Westlife’s Kian Egan, who performed on the show, disclosed he had voted for him: “I was backstage voting for Mark on my mobile phone.” Fellow Westlife member Nicky Byrne said the winner had a “powerful voice and deserved to win” and EastEnders star Barbara Windsor said “the best person won”. The final was hosted by Jane McDonald, with help from industry experts including Nigel Martin, the man who discovered Robbie Williams and Take That, and Miss Windsor. Kerrins, who works for Servisair at Leeds Bradford airport, says he has been singing since he joined a school choir when he was five.