{"id":705242,"date":"2026-05-30T23:49:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-30T23:49:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/705242\/"},"modified":"2026-05-30T23:49:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-30T23:49:10","slug":"itv-bgt-fans-left-frustrated-as-they-work-out-magicians-finale-act-after-awkward-swear-word-blunder-was-it-just-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/705242\/","title":{"rendered":"ITV BGT fans left frustrated as they ‘work out’ magician’s finale act after awkward swear word blunder: ‘Was it just me?’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Britain’s Got Talent viewers were left frustrated during Saturday night’s live final after some claimed they had worked out teenage magician Rafferty Coope’s trick, while others were distracted by a separate on-stage blunder involving an accidental swear word.<\/p>\n

The 17-year-old performer returned to the ITV competition’s grand final as one of two magicians competing for the \u00a3250,000 prize and a place at the Royal Variety Performance.<\/p>\n

Mr Coope’s routine centred around spreading positivity and encouraging viewers to “smile”.<\/p>\n

However, not all fans were convinced by the performance.<\/p>\n

\"\\u200bRafferty<\/p>\n

Rafferty Coope’s performance drew scrutiny from BGT viewers<\/p>\n

| <\/p>\n

ITV \/ YOUTUBE<\/p>\n

During the act, judges Alesha Dixon and KSI selected raffle tickets from a bag before Coope wrote the numbers 371415 on top of a white grand piano. <\/p>\n

He then rotated the piano and revealed what he said was the word “smile”.<\/p>\n

Viewers at home quickly took to social media, with many arguing the reveal had gone wrong.<\/p>\n

One viewer posted: “Anyone got a screengrab of that piano lid? It said s***e.”<\/p>\n

\"\\u200bRafferty<\/p>\n

Some viewers were convinced they worked out the young magician’s trick<\/p>\n

| <\/p>\n

ITV \/ YOUTUBE<\/p>\n

Another wrote: “Why does the piano say s***e on top of it…”<\/p>\n

A third added: “SMILE? I thought it said s***e.”<\/p>\n

Others believed the upside-down lettering appeared to spell “sihile” instead, with one fan joking: “Can someone tell Rafferty how to spell SMILE cause it ain’t sihile.”<\/p>\n

But the apparent spelling mishap wasn’t the only aspect of the performance attracting attention online.<\/p>\n

\"Rafferty<\/p>\n

Mr Coope was judge KSI’s Golden Buzzer act, which secured his place in the final<\/p>\n

| <\/p>\n

ITV \/ YOUTUBE<\/p>\n

Some viewers claimed they had spotted how one of the magician’s tricks worked during the live show.<\/p>\n

“I also saw Rafferty put Amanda’s ring in his back pocket and then obviously take it out again??? Was it just me???” one viewer wrote on X.<\/p>\n

The comment quickly sparked discussion among fans watching at home, with several questioning whether the illusion had been as convincing as intended.<\/p>\n

Others were more generally critical of the teenager’s performance.<\/p>\n

“The magician acts get ten times the amount of time the other acts, just to rig it more for them to win,” one viewer complained.<\/p>\n

Another wrote: “The choir can’t sing, the magician can’t do tricks. How are these finalists?”<\/p>\n

A third viewer added: “I think Rafferty Coope would make a great politician! He’s already perfected the skill of talking absolute shite for minutes on end while acting like it’s profound.”<\/p>\n

Despite the criticism, many viewers rushed to defend the young magician and praised his unique approach.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

The magician started the competition as the early bookmakers’ favourite, but the betting markets have shifted significantly leading up to the live final<\/p>\n

| <\/p>\n

ITV \/ YOUTUBE<\/p>\n

One supporter wrote: “Rafferty Coope that was incredible how this young lad does magic in such a different way! Incredible act who will go far in his chosen career and definitely made me smile!”<\/p>\n

Mr Coope originally secured his place in the competition after receiving KSI’s Golden Buzzer during the audition stages and went on to reach the final alongside fellow magician Fabian Fox.<\/p>\n

The pair competed against eight other acts, including poet Sonny Green, singer Matty Juniosa, comedian Ted Hill and The Hawkstone Farmers Choir.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Britain’s Got Talent viewers were left frustrated during Saturday night’s live final after some claimed they had worked…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":705243,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[64,63,58346,480,134,6207,427],"class_list":["post-705242","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-britains-got-talent","tag-celebrity","tag-entertainment","tag-itv","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/705242","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=705242"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/705242\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/705243"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=705242"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=705242"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=705242"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}