Britain's Got Talent series 15
The fifteenth series of British talent competition programme Britain's Got Talent was broadcast on ITV, from 16 April 2022 to 5 June 2022. Filming of the series was originally planned for 2021, but with the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom having led to strict government restrictions on television production, many of the production team, including Simon Cowell, felt it would be wiser to postpone filming until conditions improved. Filming eventually began in January 2022, with Cowell making his return as a judge for the programme following his accident during the previous series.
The fifteenth series was won by stand-up comedian Axel Blake, with ventriloquist Jamie Leahey finishing in second place, and singer Tom Ball placing third. During its broadcast, the series averaged around 6.38 million viewers.
Series overview
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 new Government restrictions to combat the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom. After initially deciding to postpone production until later in the year, all involved parties agreed that they would not produce a new series until the following year, when Government restrictions would be eased and conditions surrounding the pandemic would be favourable for large-scale television production. Auditions were filmed at the London Palladium in January 2022, with Cowell returning after his bicycle accident during the previous series. The deliberations stage took place inside the Radisson Blu Edwardian Hampshire Hotel during February 2022, with Cowell assisting the other three judges remotely from his London house due to him contracting COVID-19.| Participant | Age | Genre | Performance Type | Semi-final | Finished |
| 5 Star Boys | 10–12 | Dance | Contemporary Dance Group | 4 | Finalist |
| Amber and the Dancing Collies | 25 | Animals | Dog Act | 2 | Finalist |
| Andrew Basso | 36 | Danger | Escape Artist | 2 | Eliminated |
| Aneeshwar Kunchala | 7 | Variety | Poet | 5 | Finalist |
| Axel Blake | 33 | Comedy | Stand Up Comedian | 5 | Winner |
| Ben Nickless | 40 | Comedy | Impressionist | 2 | Finalist |
| Born to Perform | 14–24 | Dance | Dance Group | 1 | Eliminated |
| Brian & Krysstal | 71 & 58 | Comedy / Music | Comic Music Duo | 5 | Eliminated |
| Dame Nation | 31–57 | Singing | Pantomime Vocal Group | 4 | Eliminated |
| Dane Bates Collective | 12–27 | Dance | Contemporary Dance Group | 3 | Eliminated |
| Dante Marvin | 13 | Comedy / Singing | Comic Singer | 2 | Eliminated |
| Eva Abley | 14 | Comedy | Stand Up Comedian | 3 | Finalist |
| Flintz and T4ylor | 22 & 17 | Singing / Music | Rapper & Pianist | 2 | Finalist |
| IMD Legion | 11–35 | Dance | Street Dance Group | 5 | Eliminated |
| Immi Davis | 9 | Singing | Singer | 3 | Eliminated |
| Jamie Leahey | 13 | Comedy | Ventriloquist | 1 | Runner-Up |
| Junwoo | 23 | Magic | Magician | 1 | Eliminated |
| Keiichi Iwasaki | 49 | Magic | Magician | 3 | Eliminated |
| Les Sancho | 24–31 | Dance | Latin & Hip Hop Dance Group | 3 | Eliminated |
| London Community Gospel Choir | 28–54 | Singing | Gospel Choir | 1 | Eliminated |
| Loren Allred | 32 | Singing | Singer | 4 | Finalist |
| Mary P | 29 | Singing | Mary Poppins Impersonator | 4 | Eliminated |
| Matricks Illusion | 27 & 29 | Magic | Quick Change Group | 5 | Eliminated |
| Maxwell Thorpe | 32 | Singing | Opera Singer | 1 | Finalist |
| Mel Day | 77 | Singing | Singer | 1 | Eliminated |
| Nick Edwards | 35 | Singing / Music | Singer & Guitarist | 5 | Eliminated |
| Ranger Chris | 41 | Dance | Dinosaur Dance Group | 2 | Eliminated |
| Ryland Petty | 9 | Magic | Magician | 2 | Eliminated |
| Scooter Boys | 6–10 | Danger | Scooter Stunt Team | 5 | Eliminated |
| Stefano Paolini | 45 | Comedy | Stand Up Comedian | 4 | Eliminated |
| Suzi Wild | 34 | Comedy | Impressionist | 1 | Eliminated |
| The Dots | 32–38 | Comedy / Singing | Comic Vocal Trio | 3 | Eliminated |
| The Freaks | 10–36 | Acrobatics | Acrobatic Group | 3 | Eliminated |
| The Frontline Singers | 24–62 | Singing | Vocal Group | 4 | Eliminated |
| The Phantom | 25 | Magic | Magician | 4 | Eliminated |
| The Witches | 17–31 | Magic | Horror Magician | 1 | Eliminated |
| Titan the Robot | 34 | Comedy | Comedian | 4 | Eliminated |
| Tom Ball | 23 | Singing | Singer | 3 | Third place |
| Voices of Armed Forces Children Choir | 6–18 | Singing | Choir | 2 | Eliminated |
| Welsh of the West End | 24–34 | Singing | Vocal Group | 5 | Eliminated |
Semi-finals summary
Semi-final 1 (30 May)
Guest performers: Moulin Rouge! The MusicalSemi-final 2 (31 May)
Guest Performers: Back to the Future: The Musical- Amber & Her Dancing Collies were later sent through to the final as the judges' wildcard.
Semi-final 3 (1 June)
Guest performers: Diversity- Due to the majority vote for Eva Abley, Cowell's voting intention was not revealed.
Semi-final 4 (2 June)
Guest performers: Emeli Sandé and Kseniya Simonova- Cowell requested his X was removed after the act during his comments.
- Cowell did not cast his vote due to the majority support for 5 Star Boys from the other judges, but admitted that his voting intention would have been for this semi-finalist.
Semi-final 5 (3 June)
Guest performers: Jon Courtenay, Colin Thackery, D-Day Darlings and D-Day Juniors- Cowell did not cast his vote due to the majority support for Aneeshwar Kunchala from the other judges; he stated that he would have wanted to see both Kunchala and Welsh of the West End in the final, implying that he would have tried to take the result to the public vote if he had been asked earlier.
Final (5 June)
Guest performers: Sister Act The Musical| Finalist | Order | Performance Type | Percentage | Finished |
| Jamie Leahey | 1 | Ventiloquist | 14.7% | 2nd |
| Amber and the Dancing Collies | 2 | Dog Act | 3.2% | 10th |
| 5 Star Boys | 3 | Contemporary Dance Group | 2.5% | 11th |
| Flintz and T4ylor | 4 | Rapper & Pianist | 8.3% | 6th |
| Aneeshwar Kunchala | 5 | Poet | 6.0% | 7th |
| Eva Abley | 6 | Stand Up Comedian | 8.4% | 5th |
| Tom Ball | 7 | Singer | 14.2% | 3rd |
| Ben Nickless | 8 | Impressionist | 5.7% | 8th |
| Loren Allred | 9 | Singer | 3.3% | 9th |
| Axel Blake | 10 | Stand Up Comedian | 19.7% | 1st |
| Maxwell Thorpe | 11 | Opera Singer | 14.0% | 4th |
Ratings
| Episode | Air date | Total viewers | ITV Weekly rank |
| Auditions 1 | 8.31 | 2 | |
| Auditions 2 | 6.94 | 3 | |
| Auditions 3 | 7.03 | 4 | |
| Auditions 4 | 7.29 | 1 | |
| Auditions 5 | 6.93 | 1 | |
| Auditions 6 | 6.55 | 1 | |
| Auditions 7 | 7.00 | 1 | |
| Auditions 8 | 5.84 | 1 | |
| Semi-Final 1 | 5.89 | 2 | |
| Semi-Final 2 | 5.46 | 3 | |
| Semi-Final 3 | 5.06 | 9 | |
| Semi-Final 4 | 4.70 | 11 | |
| Semi-Final 5 | 5.23 | 6 | |
| Final | 7.07 | 1 |