{"id":431126,"date":"2026-05-16T21:52:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-16T21:52:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/431126\/"},"modified":"2026-05-16T21:52:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T21:52:09","slug":"rafferty-coope-wins-britains-got-talent-semi-final-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/431126\/","title":{"rendered":"Rafferty Coope wins Britain’s Got Talent semi-final 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n The 17-year-old musical magician, a student at Peter Symonds College<\/a>, saw off tough competition at the Hammersmith Apollo to become the winner of the fourth semi-final. Rafferty\u2019s victory came after a closely watched night of performances and public voting, broadcast live from 6pm.\n<\/p>\n

\n Votes for the night closed at 7.47pm, with Rafferty revealed as the winner at 7.58pm. He was congratulated by the show\u2019s judges and will progress to the final of the popular ITV1 and ITVX talent show.\n<\/p>\n

\n (Image: Richard Coope)\n<\/p>\n

\n After the show, he posted: “I CAN\u2019T BELIEVE IT!!!! I can\u2019t thank everyone enough \ud83d\udc9b\ud83d\udc9b\ud83d\udc9b Bring on the finals! \ud83e\udef6\u2728”\n<\/p>\n

\n Rafferty\u2019s journey to the final has attracted widespread attention across Winchester and beyond. He first wowed the Britain\u2019s Got Talent judges in his audition, where he performed a unique act blending music and magic. Most notably, YouTube star and Britain\u2019s Got Talent judge KSI awarded him the prestigious Golden Buzzer, sending him straight to the live shows.\n<\/p>\n

\n KSI\u2019s support meant a lot to Rafferty, who said: “I’ve grown up watching him. He’s been a stable part of my childhood. Him getting in contact with me, giving me support, is just insane.”\n<\/p>\n

\n After his audition, Rafferty described the reaction to his success: “The reaction has been absolutely incredible. I really cannot believe it.\n<\/p>\n

\n (Image: Camilla Coope)\n<\/p>\n

\n “So much positivity, and I’m just so shocked and so proud. I’ve had teachers who taught me all the way back, get back in contact and say lovely things. That has meant the world to me.”\n<\/p>\n

\n On the semi-final stage, Rafferty\u2019s performance left the judging panel and audience in awe. Popular judge Alisha commented during the show: “You are so talented you have more energy than the entire room.”\n<\/p>\n

\n KSI himself was noted as being left momentarily “speechless” by the Winchester teen\u2019s act.\n<\/p>\n

\n Rafferty\u2019s achievement is not only a personal victory, but also a source of pride for the local community. A former chorister at Winchester Cathedral<\/a>, Rafferty attended The Pilgrims\u2019 School and Kings Worthy<\/a> Primary School before moving to Peter Symonds College. His talents have long been noticed in Winchester \u2013 he previously won the talent competition Pilgrims\u2019 Got Talent with a magic show at The Pilgrims\u2019 School and is an active member of the Young Magicians Club at the Magic Circle.\n<\/p>\n

\n With the final ahead and the \u00a3250,000 prize in sight, Rafferty has shared what he would do with potential winnings. Speaking ahead of the semi-final, he said: “I would love to build a music studio, or I would love to buy a grand piano. I’ve got an electric piano, and I consistently bug my parents, saying, I’ve got to have a grand piano now.\n<\/p>\n

\n “I would love to go to music college or drama college, and I think that would help.”\n<\/p>\n

\n Rafferty\u2019s impact goes beyond his performance. He said: “My main goal for this show is to try and get people inspired to get into musical magic and just to already see the response that that’s got by people, like parents saying, ‘This has got my child to pick up an instrument,’ or even the parents themselves getting into the hobby.\n<\/p>\n

\n “It’s really been amazing.”\n<\/p>\n

\n Viewers from Winchester and further afield were able to vote for Rafferty in the public vote, giving him the edge over other talented acts including the Glantaf Boys Choir, Epic Sax Guy, and Kristel Herrera. A poet named Sonny Green secured a Golden Buzzer from Simon Cowell and will also appear in the final, which will air on May 30.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The 17-year-old musical magician, a student at Peter Symonds College, saw off tough competition at the Hammersmith Apollo…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":431127,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[156,111,139,69,437],"class_list":["post-431126","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-entertainment","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/431126","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=431126"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/431126\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/431127"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=431126"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=431126"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=431126"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}