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Britain's Got Talent
Britain's Got Talent (often abbreviated to BGT) 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 (colloquially known as Ant & Dec), it is produced by Talkback Thames (Thames from 2012 to 2024) and Syco Entertainment (until 2025), distributed by Fremantle, and broadcast on ITV every year (except 2021) 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.
The show is broadcast on ITV1 in the UK and Virgin Media One in the Republic of Ireland.
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.
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 (1949–1990) and New Faces (1973–1988). To showcase his idea, a pilot episode was filmed in September 2005, with the judging panel consisting of Cowell, Fern Britton (at the time, presenter of This Morning), 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 (before the broadcast of America's Got Talent), 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.
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Britain's Got Talent
Britain's Got Talent (often abbreviated to BGT) 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 (colloquially known as Ant & Dec), it is produced by Talkback Thames (Thames from 2012 to 2024) and Syco Entertainment (until 2025), distributed by Fremantle, and broadcast on ITV every year (except 2021) 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.
The show is broadcast on ITV1 in the UK and Virgin Media One in the Republic of Ireland.
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.
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 (1949–1990) and New Faces (1973–1988). To showcase his idea, a pilot episode was filmed in September 2005, with the judging panel consisting of Cowell, Fern Britton (at the time, presenter of This Morning), 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 (before the broadcast of America's Got Talent), 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.