{"id":613222,"date":"2026-05-31T05:53:14","date_gmt":"2026-05-31T05:53:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/613222\/"},"modified":"2026-05-31T05:53:14","modified_gmt":"2026-05-31T05:53:14","slug":"bgt-winner-says-controversial-and-polished-finalist-is-at-an-unfair-advantage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/613222\/","title":{"rendered":"BGT winner says &#8216;controversial and polished&#8217; finalist is &#8216;at an unfair advantage&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>EXCLUSIVE: Britain\u2019s Got Talent winner Paul Potts shared his unfiltered views while discussing two of the acts competing in this year\u2019s final<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\" Celestial got 4 yeses from the judges\" loading=\"eager\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/0_britains_got_talent_sr19_ep1_03.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p aria-label=\"Celestial are one of the acts hoping to win Britain's Got Talent \" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-title__ccyQU\" data-testid=\"caption-title\">Celestial are one of the acts hoping to win Britain&#8217;s Got Talent (Image: ITV)<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\"><a aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.liverpoolecho.co.uk\/all-about\/britains-got-talent\" rel=\"follow nofollow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_self\">Britain&#8217;s Got Talent<\/a> champion Paul Potts believes one act in this year&#8217;s final is at an unfair advantage. The singer, who triumphed in the first series back in 2007, has continued to watch the programme since his win and hasn&#8217;t shied away from sharing his views about the competition.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">As 10 finalists prepare to perform in pursuit of the \u00a3250,000 prize and a coveted slot at the Royal Variety Performance, he offered his verdict on two acts.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Those hoping to follow in Paul&#8217;s success include The Hawkstone Farmers Choir, Matty Juniosa, Anastasiia and Salsa, Sadeck Berrabah and LMA, Fabian Fox, Liew Yang, Ted Hill, Sonny Green, Rafferty Coope and Celestial.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Celestial are drone display performers who produce captivating shows using LED technology. Given the nature of their act, their semi-final performance was pre-recorded, something Paul believes put them at an advantage.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Discussing the golden buzzer, which the group received from Amanda Holden in the auditions and from all four judges in the semi-final, the opera singer said: &#8220;The golden buzzer also takes power away from the audience. In the past, viewers had more influence over who progressed. I also thought the situation with Celestial was controversial.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Paul Potts won BGT in 2007\" loading=\"lazy\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/4_britains-got-talent.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p aria-label=\"Paul Potts won Britain's Got Talent in 2007 \" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-title__ccyQU\" data-testid=\"caption-title\">Paul Potts won Britain&#8217;s Got Talent in 2007 (Image: ITV)<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">He added via <a aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/skyvegas.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_self\">Sky Vegas<\/a>: &#8220;They&#8217;re fantastic, but because their performance relied on darkness, it couldn&#8217;t really be done fully live in the same way as the other acts.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">&#8220;What viewers saw was heavily polished and pre-recorded, and that creates an unfair advantage over acts performing live with no safety net.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">He continued: &#8220;We don&#8217;t know whether there were technical issues or mistakes because editing removes those things.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">&#8220;I&#8217;m not questioning their talent, but there&#8217;s a completely different pressure when everyone else is performing live and one act has the benefit of a polished pre-record.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">A representative for Britain&#8217;s Got Talent did not respond when approached for comment. Turning his attention to another act, Paul remarked on The Hawkstone Farmers Choir&#8217;s links with Jeremy Clarkson.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Welsh members of a farmers\u2019 choir heading into the live Britain\u2019s Got Talent final\" loading=\"lazy\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1_ljr_200526_farmer3-CopyJPG.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p aria-label=\"Welsh members of a farmers\u2019 choir heading into the live Britain\u2019s Got Talent final\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-title__ccyQU\" data-testid=\"caption-title\">Welsh members of a farmers\u2019 choir heading into the live Britain\u2019s Got Talent final(Image: Hawkstones Farmers&#8217; Choir \/ ITV \/ BGT)<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">The group, made up of farmers from various parts of the country, was initially brought together during rehearsals for a series of adverts promoting Jeremy&#8217;s Hawkstone beer.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Speaking on Heart Radio previously, the former Top Gear star urged viewers to vote for them and thanked Amanda for pressing her golden buzzer.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Speaking about the act, Paul stated: &#8220;The Hawkstone Farmers Choir do feel slightly like an advert for Jeremy Clarkson&#8217;s brand at times, and normally something that close to branding would raise questions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">&#8220;Whether it helps them depends on whether they&#8217;ve genuinely got the quality to back it up. Personally, I don&#8217;t think they were the best choir in the competition. The gospel choir that some people criticised for being over-produced were stronger vocally and probably deserved the place more.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Britain&#8217;s Got Talent airs tonight at 7.30pm on ITV and ITVX<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EXCLUSIVE: Britain\u2019s Got Talent winner Paul Potts shared his unfiltered views while discussing two of the acts competing&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":613223,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[3573,96,391,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-613222","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-britains-got-talent","tag-entertainment","tag-tv","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/613222","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=613222"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/613222\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/613223"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=613222"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=613222"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=613222"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}