{"id":310549,"date":"2026-02-21T22:55:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-21T22:55:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/310549\/"},"modified":"2026-02-21T22:55:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-21T22:55:08","slug":"para-athlete-paul-nunnari-receives-golden-buzzer-on-britains-got-talent-the-irish-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/310549\/","title":{"rendered":"Para athlete Paul Nunnari receives golden buzzer on Britain\u2019s Got Talent \u2013 The Irish News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Para athlete Paul Nunnari has received the golden buzzer on Britain\u2019s Got Talent for his aerial silk audition.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">The ITV talent show returned to screens on Saturday, when performers auditioned for the chance to appear at the Royal Variety Performance and win a cash prize.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">The Australian athlete blew away the judging panel, made up of Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden, Alesha Dixon and YouTuber KSI, and scored the first golden buzzer of the series, sending him straight to the live shows.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Nunnari\u2019s act involved him climbing up the silk in his wheelchair before swinging from it by his neck.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"c-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.irishnews.com\/entertainment\/greys-anatomy-actor-patrick-dempsey-reflects-on-leaving-the-hit-medical-drama-36E2IPT6W5KQLMFWXLGHA3AWO4\/\" aria-hidden=\"true\" tabindex=\"-1\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" alt=\"Grey&#x2019;s Anatomy actor Patrick Dempsey reflects on leaving the hit medical drama\" class=\"c-image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1771714508_744_P3T5ESRPEVKR5BT24JNVFZKSWU.jpg\"  width=\"800\" height=\"450\"\/><\/a><a class=\"c-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.irishnews.com\/entertainment\/ive-got-a-right-to-be-here-steve-coogan-after-saipan-role-recognition-in-ireland-7GMOLV3LPVFVLHXOQ3HMJBUGKE\/\" aria-hidden=\"true\" tabindex=\"-1\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" alt=\"&#x2018;I&#x2019;ve got a right to be here&#x2019;: Steve Coogan after Saipan role recognition in Ireland\" class=\"c-image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/PA2YOCC7U5FRVIJPWL4XURIRQM.jpg\"  width=\"800\" height=\"450\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">KSI said: \u201cIn the first half we were impressed and then you just upped it again. That\u2019s one of the greatest things I\u2019ve ever seen in my life.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Dixon added: \u201cYou are really amazing, you are going to inspire millions and millions of people. No excuses right?\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Holden said she could not believe what she saw and praised the performer for being \u201cso brave\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Before hitting the golden buzzer, Cowell said: \u201cOne of the most incredible things, I really do believe, that I\u2019ve ever seen, and you\u2019re so humble and so nice and so talented.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Nunnari said: \u201cIf you dream something, you can make it happen, but this is the dream come true.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Hosted by presenting duo Ant and Dec, the talent show also saw a drone act light up the sky by the group Celestial, who received a firm yes from the judges.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Using 800 drones the act paid homage to Britain, creating formations that resembled the silhouette of James Bond, Queen\u2019s Freddie Mercury, and a King\u2019s guard while a snippet of a speech by the King played.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Danger act Liwei Yang received four yeses from the judges after balancing and spinning flaming objects while upside down.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Cowell said: \u201cThat was actually quite incredible. I\u2019ve never ever, ever seen anything like that.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Dixon added: \u201cIt was visually stunning, but at the same time, really thrilling, really dangerous, really different.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Magician Fraser Penman from Glasgow, who has albinism, wowed the judges with his heartfelt magical act, after correctly revealing the secret word Cowell had been asked to think of.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">He received four yeses from the the judges and said: \u201cI spent 10 years dyeing my hair, doing fake tan, because I was uncomfortable in the skin I was in, to change my mindset to stand in front of the world.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cSo if I can do that, anything in your imagination can happen.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">KSI said: \u201cYou have superpowers bro.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Holden added: \u201cI would love an act like this to be on the Royal Variety Performance. So it\u2019s a yes for me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Penman later told Ant and Dec: \u201cTo come from somebody that was ashamed to be who he was, tell my story and demonstrate my abilities, was incredible.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Other auditions that made it through included Dom and his dog Ninja\u2019s parkour act, and dance team LMA from Liverpool, who blew the judges away with their tutting dance performance.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Holden said: \u201cWe have so many dance groups that come on to the show that promise us difference, and they never are. And that was as different and exceptional as it gets. I\u2019ve never seen anything like it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Cowell told the group they \u201cnailed\u201d their audition before bringing out the choreographer Sadeck, who he praised for \u201craising the bar\u201d on the show.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Previous winners include magician Harry Moulding, who won series 18 and bagged the \u00a3250,000 cash prize and a spot on the bill of the Royal Variety Performance.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Britain\u2019s Got Talent returns on ITV1 and ITVX next Saturday at 7pm<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Para athlete Paul Nunnari has received the golden buzzer on Britain\u2019s Got Talent for his aerial silk audition.&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":310550,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[145600,36803,47515,71155,93,61,60,69115,145601,1576,30028,282,1577],"class_list":{"0":"post-310549","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-alesha-dixon","9":"tag-amanda-holden","10":"tag-ant","11":"tag-dec","12":"tag-entertainment","13":"tag-ie","14":"tag-ireland","15":"tag-ksi","16":"tag-paul-nunnari","17":"tag-showbiz","18":"tag-simon-cowell","19":"tag-tv","20":"tag-uk"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/310549","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=310549"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/310549\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/310550"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=310549"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=310549"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=310549"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}