Britain's Got Talent

Britain's Got Talent
Genre	Reality, talent show, entertainment
Created by	Simon Cowell & Syco TV
Presented by	Anthony McPartlin Declan Donnelly
Starring	Marcus Bentley
Judges	Simon Cowell Amanda Holden Piers Morgan David Hasselhoff Michael McIntyre Alesha Dixon David Walliams Ashley Banjo Bruno Tonioli
Country of origin	United Kingdom
No. of series	16
Production
Producer	SYCO TV in association with talkbackTHAMES
Running time	60–90 minutes (including tv adverts)
Original release
Network	ITV
Release	9 June 2007 (2007-06-09) – present

Britain's Got Talent is a British television show on ITV and part of the Got Talent series. The programme is presented by Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly (known as Ant & Dec).

There is one series each year; the most recent being the seventeenth series. The four judges of the current series are: Simon Cowell, Alesha Dixon, Amanda Holden and Bruno Tonioli.^[1]

The winner of the programme performs in front of the king at The Royal Variety Show and receives a cash prize of £250,000.

The show started in 2007 with the original line-up Ant & Dec hosting and Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden and Piers Morgan as judges. The same format was kept until the end of Series 4, when Piers Morgan announced his departure from the show.

In series 5, David Hasselhoff and Michael Macintyre joined the panel, but they both only stayed for one series. In 2012, they were replaced by David Walliams and Alesha Dixon.

Stephen Mulhern had been presenting the spin-off show Britain's Got More Talent from Series 1 to Series 13, In March 2020, It was announced that Britain's Got More Talent was going to be axed.^[2]

In 2020, a judge from Dancing on Ice Ashley Banjo replaced Simon Cowell in the live shows after he broke his back after a electric bike fall.

In 2023, Bruno Tonioli replaced David Walliams.^[3]

Notes

Series	Start	Finish	Winner's prize 1	Winner	Runner-up	Third place	Avg. UK viewers (millions)
1	9 June 2007	17 June 2007	£100,000	Paul Potts	N/A2	N/A2	8.38
2	12 April 2008	31 May 2008		George Sampson	Signature	Andrew Johnston	10.21
3	11 April 2009	30 May 2009		Diversity	Susan Boyle	Julian Smith	13.36
4	17 April 2010	5 June 2010		Spelbound	Twist and Pulse	Kieran Gaffney	11.05
5	16 April 2011	4 June 2011		Jai McDowall	Ronan Parke	New Bounce	10.40
6	24 March 2012	12 May 2012	£500,000	Ashleigh and Pudsey	Jonathan and Charlotte	Only Boys Aloud	10.07
7	13 April 2013	8 June 2013	£250,000	Attraction	Jack Carroll	Richard & Adam	9.71
8	12 April 2014	7 June 2014		Collabro	Lucy Kay	Bars & Melody	9.84
9	11 April 2015	31 May 2015		Jules O'Dwyer & Matisse	Jamie Raven	Côr Glanaethwy	9.31
10	9 April 2016	28 May 2016		Richard Jones	Wayne Woodward	Boogie Storm	9.43
11	15 April 2017	3 June 2017		Tokio Myers	Issy Simpson	Daliso Chaponda	9.12
12	14 April 2018	3 June 2018		Lost Voice Guy	Robert White	Donchez Dacres	8.33
13	6 April 2019	2 June 2019		Colin Thackery	X	Ben Hart	8.153
14	11 April 2020	10 October 2020		Jon Courtenay	Sign Along with Us	Steve Royle	8.17
15	16 April 2022	5 June 2022		Axel Blake	Jamie Leahey	Tom Ball	6.36
16	15 April 2023	4 June 2023		Viggo Venn	Lillianna Clifton	Cillian O’Connor	5.98
17	20 April 2024	2 June 2024		Sydnie Christmas	Jack Rhodes	Abigail & Afronitaaa	5.64
18	22 February 2025	2025		TBA	TBA	TBA	TBA

Notes

The first series was aired during 2007, between 9 and 17 June. Auditions for this series took place within the cities of Manchester, Birmingham, London and Cardiff, between January and February earlier that year. The series had three live semi-finals, featuring a total of twenty-four semi-finalists, all of whom were vying for a chance to perform at the Royal Variety Performance and claiming a £100,000 cash prize. The series was won by opera singer Paul Potts and the results of the other finalists were not announced.

The second series was aired during 2008, between 12 April and 31 May, and featured notable differences. Not only did the series run for much longer, auditions took place in Blackpool and Glasgow, the latter following complaints that Scotland hadn't been visited during the previous series (along with Manchester, Birmingham, London and Cardiff). In addition, the show had five live semi-finals, featuring a total of forty semi-finalists. The series was won by street-dancer George Sampson, with dual dance group Signature coming in second, and singer Andrew Johnston placing third.

The third series was aired during 2009, between 11 April and 30 May, with auditions held in the same five cities as before. Initially, a change in format included a fourth judge, Kelly Brook, on the panel, but this was later dropped a few days after auditions began. The series was won by dance troupe Diversity, with singer Susan Boyle coming in second, and saxophonist Julian Smith placing third. It is the highest watched series in the history of Britain's Got Talent, attracting an average of over 13.3 million viewers.

The fourth series was aired during 2010, between 17 April and 5 June. A single episode of this series, intended for airing on 22 May, was pushed back to 23 May in order to avoid it clashing with live coverage of the UEFA Champions League Final. The auditions were once more held across the same five cities as before, though the series also held auditions with Newcastle upon Tyne. The city had been originally planned to hold auditions for the previous series, but these were cancelled before this could happen. Owing to illness, Cowell was unable to attend the Birmingham auditions due to having the flu, which led to Louis Walsh being in brought in as a guest judge for these.^[source?] The series was won by gymnastic troupe Spelbound, with dancing duo Twist and Pulse coming in second, and drummer Kieran Gaffney placing third.

The fifth series was aired during 2011, between 16 April and 4 June, and was the first to be broadcast completely in high-definition. A single episode intended for airing on 28 May, was pushed back to 29 May, to avoid it clashing with live coverage of the UEFA Champions League Final. Auditions took place across the same five cities, though also included Liverpool. This series saw a change in the judging panel, following Piers Morgan's departure from the show,^[source?] with Holden joined by David Hasselhoff and Michael McIntyre during the auditions. Cowell appeared during the live episodes of the series with the rest of the panel,^[5][6] while Louis Walsh returned as a guest judge for the London auditions when Hasselhoff couldn't attend due to other commitments at the time.^[7] The series was won by singer Jai McDowall, with singer Ronan Parke coming in second, and boy band New Bounce placing third.

The sixth series was aired during 2012, between 24 March and 12 May. For this series, the cash prize was increased from £100,000 to £500,000, and a new feature was introduced called the "Wildcard". This meant, the judges could select one of the acts eliminated in the semi-finals, to return and compete in the finals. The show also increased the number of semi-finalist for the semi-finals to forty-five, with nine acts per semi-final, and the number of judges for the entire contest to four. The previous series also featured four judges, albeit for the live episodes only. In addition, the show attempted to bring in a new way of voting for the semi-finals via a mobile app, but this was suspended for the series after it suffered technical problems during the first live semi-final.

This series featured an open audition in London, along with inviting other acts to audition via YouTube, before holding Judges' Auditions within Birmingham, London, Manchester, Cardiff, Blackpool and Edinburgh. As both McIntyre and Hasselhoff announced in late 2011 they wouldn't be returning,^[8] the show announced on 2 January 2012 that they would be replaced by David Walliams and Alesha Dixon.^[9] They joined both Holden and Cowell for the new series, the latter having announced he would be returning as a full-time judge on the show.^[10] Holden was unable to attend some of the auditions due to her pregnancy that year, leading to Carmen Electra stepping in as a guest judge for these. The series was won by trainer and dog duo Ashleigh and Pudsey, with opera duo Jonathan and Charlotte coming in second, and Welsh boys choir Only Boys Aloud placing third.

The seventh series was aired during 2013, between 13 April to 8 June. The show took a break on 29 May, due to live football coverage of England's friendly with the Republic of Ireland. While the show retained the new features introduced in the previous series, the cash prize was reduced to £250,000, with the series featuring auditions within five cities: Birmingham, London, Cardiff, Glasgow and Manchester. The series was won by shadow theatre troupe Attraction, with comedian Jack Carroll coming in second, and opera duo Richard & Adam placing third.

The eighth series aired during 2014, between 12 April and 7 June. This series was the first to introduce the "Golden Buzzer", and for the first time since the first series, auditions were not held in Scotland. Instead they were held in Northern Ireland within Belfast, along with Cardiff, London, Birmingham and Manchester. Edinburgh joined these cities to hold open auditions in late 2013, along with Blackpool and Brighton. Additional open auditions were held in various local branches of Morrisons within "Talent Spot" tents, owing to the show's sponsorship deal with the supermarket chain at the time. The series was won by boy band Collabro, with opera singer Lucy Kay coming in second, and rapper duo Bars & Melody placing third.

The ninth series was aired during 2015, between 11 April and 31 May. The "Wildcard" feature was updated this series, along with the judges being able to put forth an eliminated act from the semi-finals into the final (referred to as the Judges' Wildcard). The show allowed the public to vote between the three most popular eliminated acts, and the one with the highest number of votes advanced into the final. This act is referred to as the Public Wildcard. Auditions took place within Edinburgh, Manchester, Birmingham and London. The latter three cities held open auditions in late 2014 along with Newcastle, Cardiff, Portsmouth, Leeds, Norwich and Bristol. The winner of the series was trainer and dog duo Jules O'Dwyer & Matisse, with magician Jamie Raven coming second, and Welsh choir Côr Glanaethwy placing third.

The tenth series was aired during 2016, between 9 April to 28 May. Auditions were held within Liverpool, Birmingham and London, with all three holding open auditions in late 2015 along with Cardiff, Glasgow and Manchester. It was the last series to hold live episodes within The Fountain Studios, before its closure at the end of the year. The series was won by magician Richard Jones, with singer Wayne Woodward coming in second, and dance group Boogie Storm placing third.

The eleventh series was aired during 2017, between 15 April and 3 June. The final was originally planned for 4 June, but this was moved forward to avoid it clashing with the One Love Manchester benefit concert that day.^[11] The series had two major changes: the first was the total number of semi-finalist reduced to forty with eight per each semi-final, as it had been prior to the sixth series; the second was the Judges' vote being dropped, with the two semi-finalists with the highest number of public votes moving on into the final. In addition, the live episodes were broadcast from Elstree Studios, owing to the closure of the previous site. Auditions were held within Salford, Birmingham, London and Blackpool. The latter two cities held open auditions in late 2016, along with Peterborough, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Kingston upon Hull, Lincoln, Reading, Manchester and Luton. The series was won by pianist Tokio Myers, with magician Issy Simpson coming second, and stand-up comedian Daliso Chaponda placing third.

The twelfth series was aired during 2018, between 14 April and 3 June. Following the previous series, the Judges' vote was brought back into the show's format, while the live episodes were aired from Hammersmith Apollo and presented solely by Declan Donnelly. Although Anthony McPartlin had stepped down from his TV commitments in March 2018, he still appeared in the series' audition episodes, which had been filmed during January and February that year.^[12] Auditions were held within Manchester, Blackpool and London.^[13] Two of these cities held open auditions in 2017, along with a number of locations within the United Kingdom and Ireland (including Edinburgh, Perth, Dundee, Aberdeen, Glasgow, Dublin and Inverness).^[14] The series was won by stand-up comedian Lost Voice Guy, with comedy singer/pianist Robert White coming second, and singer Donchez Dacres placing third.

The thirteenth series was aired during 2019, between 6 April and 2 June. Following his absence from the previous series' live episodes, Anthony McPartlin made his return to Britain's Got Talent this year. Auditions were held across the same cities as before, including London and Manchester. This series saw three notable events – the withdrawal of an act from the live semi-finals, despite securing a place through their audition; the surprise return of a participant from a previous series' contest, operating under a veiled alias; and the contest being won by the oldest participant to take part. The series was won by singer Colin Thackery, with mentalist Marc Spelmann (under the stage name of "X") coming second, and magician Ben Hart placing third.

The fourteenth series was aired during 2020, but in two parts as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic affecting the United Kingdom. The first half focused on audition episodes that had already been filmed earlier that year, and were broadcast between April and May.^[15] Production resumed on the remaining episodes for the second half, following a hiatus, which were broadcast between August and October.^[16] Several changes were implemented: measures were put in place to protect those involved from infection, including the use of a virtual audience and social distancing; all episodes were aired weekly; and all semi-finals were pre-recorded, with the voting system changed as a direct result for these rounds.

Before the first semi-final was to be filmed, Simon Cowell sustained an injury following an accident in August, causing him to be absent for the rest of the series, and leading to him being replaced by Ashley Banjo as a guest judge in his place.^[17] The series was won by comedic pianist Jon Courtenay, with sign-language choir Sign Along With Us finishing in second place, and comedian Steve Royle in third place.

The fifteenth series was planned for production and broadcast in 2021, yet ITV, Thames and Syco Entertainment were concerned on how to safely conduct filming in the midst of the new government restrictions to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. After initially deciding to postpone production until later in the year,^[18] all involved parties agreed that they would not produce a new series until the following year, when government restrictions were eased and conditions surrounding the pandemic would be favourable for large-scale television production.^[19][20] The series began filming in January 2022,^[21] and airing on 16 April. The final took place on 5 June, with comedian Axel Blake winning. Ventriloquist Jamie Leahey and singer Tom Ball came second and third respectively.

The sixteenth series aired in 2023, between 15 April and 4 June. David Walliams did not return as a judge and was replaced by Bruno Tonioli. This series is notable of having eight Golden Buzzers instead of the usual five and also the first "group Golden Buzzer" by all four judges. The final took place on 4 June, with comedian Viggo Venn winning. Dancer Lillianna Clifton and magician Cillian O'Connor came second and third respectively.

The seventeenth series aired in 2024, between 20 April and 2 June. The entire cast from the sixteenth series returned. This series featured a total of nine Golden Buzzers, the most the show had ever seen. The final took place on 2 June, with singer Sydnie Christmas winning. Magician Jack Rhodes and dance duo Abigail & Afronitaaa came in second and third respectively.

The eighteenth series will air from February 2025. Following the death of Liam Payne, which occurred days prior, Simon Cowell will be absent for some of the initial auditions. KSI will also appear as a guest judge, filling in for both Cowell and Bruno Tonoli.^[22] In November 2024, it was announced that the auditions will be entirely filmed in Blackpool and not in London for the first time in the show's history.^[23]