Britain's Got Talent
Britain's Got Talent is a televised British talent show competition, and part of the global Got Talent franchise created by Simon Cowell. Presented by Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly, it is produced by Talkback Thames and Syco Entertainment, distributed by Fremantle, and broadcast on ITV every year in late Spring to early Summer. The show was originally intended for production in 2005, but filming was delayed after the intended host, Paul O'Grady, stepped down. Following the success of America's Got Talent that year, production resumed, and the programme eventually premiered on 9 June 2007.
Every year, contestants of any age can audition for the televised contest with whatever talent they wish to demonstrate. During auditions, participants seek to impress a panel of judges – presently consisting of Cowell, Amanda Holden, Alesha Dixon, and KSI – in order to secure a place in the live rounds of the contest. Once in the live rounds, participants seek to impress the public and judges to secure votes, in order to reach the final and a chance to win a cash prize and a place within that year's performances for the Royal Variety Performance before members of the British royal family. As of 2025, the show has had 18 winners, ranging from musicians and singers to variety acts, magicians, dancers, and comedians.
On average, each series of Britain's Got Talent draws viewing figures of 6 to 10 million viewers. The show's live final in the third series attracted a record 17.3 million viewers, obtaining a 64.6% audience share at the time of its broadcast. Each series of the main programme is accompanied by a sister show, Britain's Got More Talent, presented by Stephen Mulhern. Until June 2019, the programme was aired on ITV2, but has since been moved to online platforms. A spin-off featuring the same judges and hosts, titled Britain's Got Talent: The Champions, was later produced and broadcast in 2019 following the success of the American edition's spin-off America's Got Talent: The Champions. Britain's Got Talent is contracted to run until 2028.
History
The show's format was devised by X Factor creator and Sony Music executive Simon Cowell, who was involved in the creation of other Got Talent programmes across several different countries. He was inspired by popular British variety talent shows Opportunity Knocks and New Faces. To showcase his idea, a pilot episode was filmed in September 2005, with the judging panel consisting of Cowell, Fern Britton, as well as tabloid journalist Piers Morgan. The pilot was not broadcast on television until it was shown as part of a documentary series, titled The Talent Show Story, in January 2012.The original plan for the show was for it to be aired within 2005–2006, with Paul O'Grady presenting the programme under the title Paul O'Grady's Got Talent, after having hosted the pilot. However, complications arose following the move of O'Grady's teatime show to Channel 4. ITV declined to allow O'Grady to rent their studios, prompting him to refuse all future work for the network. In a 2010 interview, O'Grady commented about the row by stating:
"I did the pilot for Britain's Got Talent – which was originally going to be called Paul O'Grady's Got Talent. But I told the producers they were having a joke if they thought I would front a show with that title. The original panel of judges was going to be Simon Cowell, Fern Britton and Piers Morgan. I was the host. Then when I had the row with ITV I was banned from the studios. I remember I rang Simon and told him he had a huge hit on his hands, but there was no way I could do it. I said, if I am banned I have to be banned from everything. I can't be a hypocrite and come in and do this. I had to bow out."
On 12 February 2007, following the success of America's Got Talent the previous year, ITV announced their intentions for a British series of Got Talent. Their announcement revealed changes to the original plan for the programme, with Ant & Dec revealed to be the hosts for the new programme. While Cowell remained as part of the judging panel, the new plan intended for David Hasselhoff and Cheryl Cole. However, both resigned before the programme was due to air, leading to Morgan being part of the panel as originally planned, and actress Amanda Holden joining him and Cowell as a judge; Hasselhoff would later join the panel for the programme's fifth series after being a part of the panel for America's Got Talent, while Cowell later employed Cole to be a replacement for Sharon Osbourne on The X Factor. At the same time, the broadcaster also announced that the show would be accompanied by a sister show on ITV2, titled Britain's Got More Talent, with Stephen Mulhern as its presenter.
Format
Auditions
Each year's competition begins with two rounds of auditions. The first round, referred to as "open auditions", are held across several different cities around the UK during the Autumn months, within small venues that are attended by the producers. The second round, referred to as the "Judges' Auditions", are held the following year during January and February, within a select set of cities. They take place within a theatre or convention hall, whose venue is chosen primarily for having the necessary facilities for handling large volumes of contestants. The venue is arranged into three zones consisting of a waiting area for participants, the wings where they enter and leave, and the main stage area that they perform on. The second round's name is due to the fact that these auditions are attended to by the judges, along with an audience who secure tickets to attend these sessions.Each participant that seeks to enter that year's competition must first submit an application to the programme, containing information about who is performing – whether a single person, a pair or trio of performers, and a small or large group – personal details regarding age, hometown and background, what experience they have for their talent, and the nature of the act that will be performed. Eligibility for the contest is determined by what information is submitted for researchers to double-check, such information is required, per the programme's terms and conditions. Once an application is approved, the participant conducts a performance during an open audition close to where they reside, whereupon if successful, they will be allocated a place in the second round, and at a venue that they can reach without issue. Once they arrive at the venue they are assigned to, the participant is then given a number, and remains within the venue's designated waiting area until called into the wings to prepare to perform. Once brought onto the main stage, they begin by engaging with the judges, asking a few small questions – whereupon they are given three minutes to conduct their performance. A backing track for their act is allowed if required.
A performance ends when either the time is up, or all the judges use their buzzers. Each judge has one that they can use to signal their dislike of the performance if they believe it to be unconvincing, boring or completely unacceptable for the contest. Once a performance is over, each judge will give an overview of what they thought about the act, before casting a vote. If the contestant receives a majority vote of "Yes", they then proceed onto the next stage in the contest, otherwise they are eliminated at that point from the competition. Beginning with the eighth series, judges can also grant an automatic place in the live rounds through the use of the "Golden Buzzer" situated on their panel's desk, which can be used by any of the judges for a participant whose audition was exceptional in their opinion, regardless of the views of the others. It may only be used twice by each judge, and cannot be used again for any other participants yet to audition in that year's competition. The hosts of Britain's Got Talent may also press the Golden Buzzer for a participant, but can only use it once.
Filming for each series begins during the Judges' Auditions, and always consists of recording taken from each venue of auditions and backstage scenes within the wings and waiting area. Footage taken by production staff is then edited into a series of episodes consisting of montages of scenes from multiple venues, consisting of the most notable auditions – along with interviews with some of the notable participants that auditioned, and recorded backstage scenes of the hosts overseeing the performances from the wings.
From Series 8 onwards, alongside the introduction of the "Golden Buzzer", contestants are no longer required to wear an ID sticker.
Judges' decisions
This stage takes place after the auditions have been completed, and is also referred to as Deliberation Day, in which the judges look through the acts that have successfully made it to this stage, and begin whittling them down to those who would stand a fair chance in the live semi-finals. The amount that goes through has varied over the show's history, though usually consists of a number that can be divided equally over the semi-finals being held in a series. Once the judges have decided on who will go through, all contestants that have reached this stage are called back to discover if they will progress into the live semi-finals or not. After this has been done, the acts are divided up between the semi-finals that the series will have; usually eight in each series, except for the sixth to tenth series which had nine acts per semi-final. While in Series 1–13 the acts are called to the theatre to find out if they made it through, in season 14 the successful acts received a phone call from the judges and from season 15 onwards, the acts finding out their result is no longer televised.For the fifth series, some acts were asked to perform again, as the judges had had difficulty coming to a final decision on the semi-finalist, and thus needed to see their performance again in order to make up their minds; it is the only time in the show's history that this has happened, and has not been repeated since.