We’re only one episode in, but ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ has already been hit with its first accusations of copying of the new series.
Over the weekend, viewers saw comedy performer Adam Keeler sail through the first round of the competition, getting the thumbs up from all four judges thanks to his routine, which saw him spelling out a variety of contemporary pop hits with oversized letters.
But while the ‘BGT’ panel was unanimously won over his performance, comedy duo Raymond and Mr Timpkins was less impressed, suggesting he stole the idea for his routine from them.
Suggesting they’d been approached to perform the routine on ‘BGT’ several times in the past, they fumed (via The Sun): “Shame on you BGT and Adam Keeler – how clever of you all to put an act on that blatantly copies our set.
“Either BGT have trawled the net to find someone willing to do our act for them in light of our constant refusals or Adam has seen our act, copied it badly and then decided to apply.
“Either way, neither comes out of this well.”
However, Adam has denied the accusation that he copied their comedy routine, insisting he was actually inspired by fellow comedian Tim Vine.
He told HuffPost UK: “I have never seen the Raymond and Mr Timpkins Revue act so I can honestly say I’ve not copied it.
“Only 40 seconds of my audition was shown and I have other props that weren’t letters or signs. My normal act is around 30 minutes long so unless people have seen both complete acts, I would not know if they are similar.
“When working abroad I put together a short act for a charity talent night using props as puns and taking the words in music literally. I was inspired by comedian Tim Vine who also uses props in his comedy.”
Addressing the duo’s suggestion producers deliberately scouted someone to rip off their routine, a ‘BGT’ spokesperson added: “Adam auditioned for the show of his own accord so any suggestion we asked him to audition with a similar act is completely unfounded and incorrect.”
Last year’s ‘BGT’ saw a number of its aspiring performers accused of lifting their routines from other artists, including the eventual winner Richard Jones.
After being crowned the 2016 ‘BGT’ champion in May last year, some viewers pointed out similarities between Richard’s winning magic routine, and a similar performance by illusionist Mat Franco, who had appeared on ‘America’s Got Talent’ two years prior.
Compare Adam’s routine to Raymond and Timkins’ below: