The start date for the new series of ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ has been confirmed.
‘BGT’ is returning for its landmark 10th series on Saturday 9 April, when we’ll be introduced to our first batch of new hopefuls hoping to snag a place at this year’s Royal Variety Performance, as well as a cash prize of £250,000.
The news was confirmed on Wednesday (30 March), with a post on ITV’s Twitter page.
The new series will Simon Cowell joined on the panel by Amanda Holden, Alesha Dixon and David Walliams, which will mark the fifth time the four judges have sat alongside each other, with Ant and Dec taking on presenting duties once again.
Last year’s series saw Jules and Matisse crowned winner, though their victory was slightly overshadowed by the ensuing controversy which arose, after it emerged that Jules had used a stunt dog for one of the tricks in her final performance.
Following an Ofcom investigation, it was ruled that viewers had been misled with the performance, and those who voted for Jules and Matisse to win over the phone were offered a refund.
During an interview with HuffPost UK amid the backlash, judge Alesha Dixon defended the act, insisting that Jules and her canine co-star weer "worthy winners".
"I knew that there was more than one dog, because she had more than one dog in the semi-finals, and in hindsight, yes, that probably could have been made a little bit clearer," she admitted. “I do think she’s a worthy winner, and I wouldn’t want that to be taken away from her. She’s so transparent, because there wasn’t anything to hide. It was probably a little bit of a mistake on the part of us, and we should have made it a little bit more clear.
“But I still think the public did the right thing in picking her to win. The dog was still amazing, Jules does incredible things for animals, and the whole show was received so well, I just wouldn’t want something like that to cloud what was an incredible series.”
‘BGT’ returns to our screens on Saturday, 9 April at 7.00pm on ITV.
