Smiling, self-conscious and doing their best to hide the fact that they had scarcely gone to bed since their victory on Britain’s Got Talent, the boys from Diversity shuffled out to face the world’s press yesterday — and had a lesson in the difference between winning and coming first.

The 11-strong dance troupe from Essex, whose ages range from 13 to 25, caused a memorable upset in the final of the ITV talent contest on Saturday night when they beat Susan Boyle into second place, winning nearly a quarter of the public vote.

But if they thought that the record company headquarters was filled yesterday with the international media because Good Morning America had developed a sudden and inexplicable interest in Essex street-dance, they were in for a letdown.

The first question, naturally enough, was about them — even in the brutal world of showbusiness, the proprieties have to be observed — but the second was about Susan Boyle, and what they had said to each other after the show. On the international stage, this competition has produced only one truly global star; and, talented though they may be, it is not Ashley Banjo, his brother and their friends, but a 48-year-old woman from Lothian who looks like a dinner lady and sings like a miracle.

Glancing round a room full of foreign television crews jostling for space with the home-grown media, the man from Entertainment Tonight — another US network show — whispered: “None of us would be here today if it wasn’t for her.”

When Ant and Dec announced that Diversity were the winners, Susan Boyle said: “The best people won.” Anyone can do nice on stage, though; but despite reports of her volatile temper, their post-victory encounter with the woman the tabloids have cruelly dubbed The Hairy Angel passed off better than anyone could have hoped.

“She was probably more gracious off stage than on stage,” said Banjo, 20. “She gave us big hugs and she had a bit of a dance with us. She was really cool about it.” Such happy endings are, however, a useful way of avoiding the unease many feel over what they consider cynical exploitation.

A shy woman with learning difficulties, Boyle has struggled to cope with being in the spotlight, and by the time of the final was close to breaking point.

Until last week she had been odds-on favourite. However, her behaviour under stress, said to have included a four-letter outburst against a couple who mocked her, is thought to have undermined her support.

Those who might be feeling guilty about the way she was treated show no regret. “She has got all the support she needs,” said a spokeswoman for production company Talkback Thames. And the ratings were fabulous.

Diversity, meanwhile, are as happy as sandboys. The prize for winning, which will have to be split 11 ways, is £100,000; until this weekend the most they had ever earned was £150 — between them, not each — for dancing at a fashion show at an Essex shopping centre.

“I didn’t expect it, really didn’t expect to win at all,” said Banjo, the choreographer, a science student at Queen Mary, University of London. “I don’t think a street-dance group, especially from the UK, has come as far as we have. We can almost create our own path.” Perhaps, he said, they could get their own television show.

As for Susan Boyle, she may find defeat rather easier to handle. Piers Morgan, one of the three judges, wrote in his blog: “To me, she has been the greatest discovery the show’s ever found.

“And I’m only sorry that the extraordinary tidal wave of publicity she attracted meant so many people got either bored or irritated by Boyle mania and decided not to vote for her.

“The good news for Susan is that we also have a tendency to feel sorry (and slightly guilty) for people after the ‘backlash’, and they usually end up even more popular than they were before.” And then no one has to feel guilty about anything, do they?

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