{"id":339891,"date":"2026-03-11T04:32:15","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T04:32:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/339891\/"},"modified":"2026-03-11T04:32:15","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T04:32:15","slug":"britains-got-talent-outrage-as-oscar-winning-film-star-92-is-axed-from-show-as-fans-fume-imagine-not-showing-this-powerhouse-how-mean","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/339891\/","title":{"rendered":"Britain’s Got Talent outrage as Oscar-winning film star, 92, is AXED from show – as fans fume ‘imagine not showing this powerhouse, how mean!’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Britain’s Got Talent<\/a> fans were left outraged after a 92-year-old Oscar-winning film star was axed from the show.<\/p>\n

Although the performance did not appear on the main show, the star still featured in spin-off Britain’s Got Talent: Unseen.<\/p>\n

Shani Wallis, 92, played the role of Nancy in beloved 1968 film musical Oliver!, which won six Academy Awards<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Addressing the BGT judges<\/a>, Shani said: ‘I was here on this stage 70 years ago but you will probably remember me as the female star of the Academy Award winning motion picture Oliver!’<\/p>\n

Alesha Dixon<\/a> exclaimed in response: ‘Nancy!’<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Amanda Holden<\/a> stood up and said: ‘Oh you were Nancy! I know who you are. Of course she’s Shani Wallis.’<\/p>\n

\"Britain's <\/p>\n

Britain’s Got Talent fans weren’t impressed when an audition from a much-loved star was not included on the main show<\/p>\n

\"Film <\/p>\n

Film viewers will remember Shani for her role as Nancy in 1968’s Oliver! Seen here with co-stars Jack Wild (The Artful Dodger), Mark Lester (Oliver Twist) and Sheila White as Bet<\/p>\n

To which Alesha chimed in: ‘Wow, what an honour.’\u00a0<\/p>\n

Shani then proceeded to perform a rendition of As Long As He Needs Me, having memorably sung it in Oliver!\u00a0<\/p>\n

She received a standing ovation from the audience, with Alesha saying: ‘This is so beautiful because you are 92 years old doing something that you love so you’re my hero.<\/p>\n

‘You are an inspiration to all of us.’<\/p>\n

Amanda added: ‘I am starstruck.’<\/p>\n

‘I can’t believe your age!’ Simon remarked while KSI admitted he had never watched the film.<\/p>\n

He added: ‘But I have to see it after this because you sang that beautifully.’<\/p>\n

All four judges voted to send Shani through to the next round of the competition.<\/p>\n

However, some viewers shared their disappointment that she had not been featured on the main Britain’s Got Talent programme.<\/p>\n

One wrote: ‘For some unbeknownst reason it wasn\u2019t shown on TV, 92 year old Shani Wallis (Nancy in the Oliver! film) singing As Long As He Needs Me.’<\/p>\n

Another said: ‘How mean excluding her. For what purpose?’<\/p>\n

A third penned: ‘Imagine not showing this! Oh my gosh Shani Wallis is 92 and she\u2019s still got it what a powerhouse.’<\/p>\n

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

Writing online, fans shared their frustrations over Shani’s performance not being featured on the main show<\/p>\n

A fourth agreed: ‘My thoughts exactly she should have OPENED or closed THE MAIN SHOW. Not #BGT2026 demoting a singing & acting icon like Shani Wallis to BGT Unseen.<\/p>\n

‘She freaking played Nancy in Oliver on stage and the #Oscars winning musical Oliver! Simon Cowell shame on you.’<\/p>\n

A fifth commented: ‘Why was Shani Wallis demoted to the unseen auditions on You Tube?<\/p>\n

‘She is an icon and sang brilliantly. Such an amazing moment seeing her back on stage.’<\/p>\n

While a sixth shared: ‘Shani Wallis going on BGT was actually so beautiful. Why did it not make the main cut!’\u00a0<\/p>\n

Oliver! starred Mark Lester in the title role, with Oliver Reed as Bill Sikes, Ron Moody as Fagin and Jack Wild as the Artful Dodger.<\/p>\n

Shani previously described Oliver Reed, who was notorious for his alcoholism, as ‘very frightening’, but stressed that he ‘never actually hurt me.’\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

She said:\u00a0‘The truth is, I had little to nothing to do with Oliver Reed off-set, his life, I believe was complicated.’\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Shani <\/p>\n

Shani performed As Long As He Needs Me – a song she memorably sang as Nancy in the 1968 film Oliver!<\/p>\n


\n
\n<\/a><\/p>\n

However, despite the monumental success of Oliver, Shani did not go onto have the career that she would have liked.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

She previously said: ‘No, but that was my fault. When I came back to America, I had offers to do what became a very famous series on television, The Brady Bunch. I didn\u2019t want to do that.\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘I wanted to do movies. But then movie musicals like Doctor Dolittle flopped and they decided not to make any more, which was a big blow.<\/p>\n

‘I went back into theatre and nightclubs. If I’d stayed in the UK after Oliver!, I’d probably still be working hard. But I had an ultimatum from my husband.’\u00a0<\/p>\n

She said: ‘Bernie said: “If you want to be with me, I won’t live anywhere but California.”‘<\/p>\n

Other key cast members included Harry Secombe as Mr. Bumble and Joseph O’Conor as Mr. Brownlow.<\/p>\n

At the 1968 Academy Awards, the film won six gongs including Best Picture and Best Director.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Britain’s Got Talent fans were left outraged after a 92-year-old Oscar-winning film star was axed from the show.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":339892,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[62294,539,93,61,60,8642,282],"class_list":["post-339891","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-britains-got-talent","tag-dailymail","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-itv","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/339891","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=339891"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/339891\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/339892"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=339891"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=339891"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=339891"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}