FURIOUS Britain’s Got Talent fans have accused the show of being “rigged” after Simon Cowell made a rule change.
Their frustrations came during Saturday’s episode of the ITV reality series, which captured the auditions taking place at Blackpool‘s Winter Gardens.
Gateshead-based act MC Tazo, real name Kevin Hogg, met fellow northerners and BGT anchors Ant and Dec backstage prior to his performance.
Ant, 50, quickly exclaimed: “We can’t pretend that we don’t know you because we are big fans of yours”.
He them told the gas engineer: “Lets get you on [stage] … we are big fans”.
Immediately after he took to the stage, the 43-year-old switched to his MC persona, bouncing around the stage with a rap which declared he was “waving and a ravin”.
He then belted out the lines: “When I say Britain’s got you say talent,’ to which the crowd then enthusiastically chanted back: “Talent!”
After wrapping up his performance – which had judge KSI off his seat dancing – he had already received two red buzzers from Alesha Dixon and Amanda Holden.
Simon and KSI then told how they would give him a yes vote, but the previous show rules state an act needs three votes in the affirmative to progress.
Knowing the regulations all too well, Ant and Dec then burst on stage and Ant said: “Can we just give a yes thats three yeses?”
Simon took a pause before he agreed and said: “OK right we will change the rules.
“Two yeses four yeses you’re through”.
Ant, clearly delighted, then told MC: “We did it”.
Yet fans at home were left irate at the swift change in proceedings.
One too to X to note: “This is what you call rigging to the max”.
Britain’s Got Talent’s biggest ‘fix’ rows
Britain’s Got Talent has been plagued with ‘fix’ rows over the years. How many of these do you remember?
Jasmine Elcock – 2016: Teenage singer Jasmine Elcock stunned the nation with her version of Cher’s Believe. But it then transpired she had already performed professionally in London’s West End. Jasmine, 14, admitted: “I’ve performed in Annie in the West End at about the age of nine or 10, but I really get nervous.”
IrShad Shaikh – 2017: BGT fans were left questioning the rule book when IrShad Shaikh auditioned. He got four red buzzers from the judges, which would usually mean an instant dismissal. Yet in a strange turn of events, they let him continue with his act…and put him through to the next round.
Colin Thackery – 2019: Elderly war veteran Colin won BGT in 2019, but there was an outcry over the final. He warbled his place to win with a version of We’ll Meet Again but fans were furious that escapologist Jonathan Goodwin didn’t even rank in the top three. Viewers felt Jonathan – who almost suffocated while being buried alive in a gravel pit – should have won.
Axel Blake – 2022: Comedian Axel Blake was given a Golden Buzzer in 2022 after making the judges laugh. But fans were fuming when they discovered Axel already had a show on worldwide streaming platform Amazon Prime. Despite this, Axel still went on to win the series.
Taryn Charles – 2024: Singer Taryn Charles is one of this year’s hopefuls lucky enough to receive the Golden Buzzer. Bruno Tonilio put her straight through to the semi-finals following her performance of (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman by Aretha Franklin, but it has now come to light that she is no stranger to TV. Viewers recognised Taryn from an episode of ITV1’s Starstruck, where she impersonated Whitney Houston for judges Olly Murs, Sheridan Smith, Adam Lambert and Beverley Knight.
A second put: “Ok, so acts now get through because they’re mates with the presenters…?”
A third posted: “BGT picking and choosing who to push because MC TAZO was awful and he’s a cringe”.
One then surmised: “Thanks to Ant and Dec MC Tazo is through”.
Later in the episode, Ant and Dec again left fans stunned as they hit their Golden Buzzer.
The famous golden buzzer sends an act automatically through to the live shows, regardless of the opinions of the other judges
And they chose comedian Ted Hill, who took to the stage to perform a set based on statistics and graphs.
