Don’t call me Billy Elliot, pleads Jamie Reid when we meet on a break during his first week as a professional dancer with Scottish Ballet.

The 19-year-old from Parkhead is the newest recruit to the company, rehearsing for stage appearances during the autumn season, opening in September and the Christmas extravaganza Cinderella.

He knows his route to his first professional job is unusual but the last thing he wants is to be compared to the hero in the hit Stephen Daldry-directed film.

Scottish Ballet scours dance schools around the world for the latest talent and Jamie is just one of two Scots on the payroll.

The honour is like playing for Scotland, says the football fan who admits ballet was never on his mind when was planning a career.

“I originally trained in musical theatre at UK Theatre School in the city centre and I was about 12 or 13 when I started doing ballet,” he remembers.

“In the theatre school you would do acting, singing and music classes and we had a stand-in teacher in the dance class who went to the head of the school to say I had something and I needed to start doing ballet.

“I said, ‘No chance am I doing ballet, I’m a boy’. I went home and told me mum and said to maybe try it once and I was still saying no.

“ At the time there was a jumper I wanted, a hoodie, and my mum produced a bag. She said, ‘If you try ballet at least once you’ll get this’. I opened the bag and there was the hoodie I wanted.”

He laughs: “Yeah, my mum basically bribed me into it.”

Jamie is delighted now that she did. All thoughts of being an electrician, a policeman or a fireman gone from his head when he started to take ballet seriously.

Those first classes led to joining Scottish Ballet Associate programme at the age of 14. Then he was hooked.

“At that time I didn’t know who Scottish Ballet was, I’d never heard of them or even looked at ballet. Then I got into Senior Associates and came over to Tramway. It was a more serious class, gearing you up to go into full-time training,” he says.

Looking around the impressive rehearsal studio he adds: “On a Saturday I’d see the company rehearsing in here. When I first went to see them ironically it was Cinderella, that was the first ever ballet I went to see and now it’s going to be the first professional ballet I perform in.

“I knew this is what I wanted to do. I gradually enjoyed it more, because I was doing it regularly. Of course you need to be fit, it’s the whole athleticism of it. I was always sporty growing up, playing football.”

When he left school Jamie went on to study at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and it was in the ballet graduation performance that he was spotted by Scottish Ballet artistic director Christopher Hampson.

Though his family knew what Jamie was studying, and are delighted at his success, he never told his old classmates from school, keeping his career a secret – until now.

“When I was in my fourth year at school and had applied to ballet schools, I kept quiet,” he says. “Living in the east end of Glasgow and going to a school in the Gallowgate, I wasn’t taking any chances.

“I was 16 when I went to the Conservatoire and If I bumped into anyone I would say I was doing sound and light engineering there.”

When he was studying Jamie says Scottish Ballet was the company he always watched. He still can’t quite believe he is now dancing with them.

His working week moves at a rigorous pace, in the studio six days a week with a half day on a Saturday. His day starts in class at 10am every day to warm up, then after a short break it is straight into rehearsals.

While most young people in their first job are going out partying with their friends, Jamie has to maintain peak fitness at all times.

“I don’t over think about what I eat but I do of course watch myself and make sure I’m not eating too much junk,” he says, finishing off a healthy wrap sandwich. “The main thing I do have every day is my five a day.

“ For ballet you need to be born with that body, but you need to know how your body works and what your limits are.

“A lot is expected of you. You need to be 100% focused to be able to pick up things instantly. Worst case scenario, if someone is injured you need to step in and know their role. So it is really good to pick up everything.”

Ask Jamie what his dream job would be and he is in no doubt, he has it.

“In football, this is like playing for your national team or signing for Celtic. This is my version of it. This was the company I looked up to. To be here dancing with them is amazing,” he says, reminding me that both Rio Ferdinand and David Beckham have taken ballet classes.

Signing for Scotland? Jamie couldn’t be any more proud if he had just scored the winning goal in the World Cup.

Scottish Ballet’s autumn tour opens at the Theatre Royal on September 24, featuring Elsa Canasta by Javier de Frutos, Motion of Displacement by Bryan Arias and Maze by Sophie Laplane.