Britain’s Got Talent viewers were left dumbfounded after the 16-year-old magician’s live final performance.Britain’s Got Talent: Ant McPartlin suffers painful fall
The Britain’s Got Talent 2026 final is here but not everything has gone exactly according to plan.
Ten acts have been welcomed back for the BGT grand finale tonight, Saturday, May 30, on ITV, including teenage magician Rafferty Coope who says he just wants to make people smile.
It was during his final performance that he tried to spread this message once again, first by getting judges Alesha Dixon and KSI to pull out raffle tickets from a bag.
They read out the ticket numbers which Rafferty then wrote on top of a grand piano the numbers 371415 before he turned the piano around and claimed that it spelled out “smile”.
However, fans were quick to rush to X to state that it didn’t spell smile but rather a five-letter swear word instead.
Britain’s Got Talent finalist Rafferty Coope during his live final performance.(Image: ITV)
“Anyone got a screengrab of that piano lid? It said s***e”, someone asked.
Another wrote: “Why does the piano say s***e on top of it…”, with a third questioning: “What numbers spell s***e when they’re turned upside down?”
While another agreed: “SMILE? I thought it said s***e.”
But others thought that Rafferty spelt out made-up word “sihile” with fans continuing to mock.
Britain’s Got Talent finalist Rafferty Coope next to a grand white piano.(Image: ITV)
“To quote Charlie Chaplin – Sihile though your heart is breaking…”, a viewer joked.
Another said: “Ah yes, that old saying: ‘SIHILE! It might never happen!'”
A fan wrote: “Let’s all sihile because it’s finished” as a fellow user said: “Can someone tell Rafferty how to spell SMILE cause it ain’t sihile.”
Another then commented: “So he had a big f*****g piano brought on stage so he could write on it but couldn’t even write the word properly.”
But not everyone was as harsh about his performance with some pointing out that Rafferty appeared “nervous”.
Someone said: “Rafferty Coope that was incredible how this young lads dose magic in such a different way! Incredible act who will go far in his chosen career & definitely made me smile!”
A second echoed: “Rafferty Coope is spellbinding What a remarkably charming act”, as a third added: “Rafferty Coope is truly phenomenal and I genuinely hope he has a career after this as a magician. He’s such a lovely lad.”
Britain’s Got Talent is available to watch on ITVX.