Britain's Got Talent 2020: Start date, judges and what's new for this series

Britain’s Got Talent has announced that it will return next week with pre-recorded episodes.

While live finals of the show have been postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic, the auditions have been filmed and will be screened as normal.

“We have been working… to find a way of making the live finals work, which were due to be broadcast at the end of May,” ITV said in a statement last month.

“However, in light of the latest Government health guidelines and in line with our priority of safeguarding the well-being of everyone involved in our programmes, production of the live shows cannot go ahead as planned.”

Here's everything you need to know about the new series...

When is Britain's Got Talent returning to ITV?

The new season of Britain’s Got Talent will kick off on Saturday, April 11 at 8pm on ITV.

Who are this year's judges?

This year’s judges will be Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden, David Walliams and Alesha Dixon.

The quartet have judged the show together since 2012, and 2020 marks the 14th season of the show overall.

And and Dec also return for this season to cover hosting duties.

What can we expect from the 2020 series?

With the 2020 auditions already filmed, judge Amanda Holden has promised fans will be treated to some of the best yet.

Holden said on Heart Breakfast: “Audition shows are definitely coming and they are better than ever, so I hope everyone loves that and can cheer up by watching that.”

However, it remains to be seen when the current season will be able to film the live finals as the coronavirus lockdown continues.

Holden says despite Ant and Dec performing Saturday Night Takeaway to an empty studio, their show needed the live audience to function.

“I think that Ant and Dec did an amazing job of Takeaway on Saturday but I’m not sure our show, I think our show would suffer quite badly from not having a proper audience,” she said.

Holden said that the live shows may air in the autumn, adding: “I would say it might be later than September but it’s quite a competitive time of year as well so, I’m hoping we can still strip it.

"Strip means we do it every single day like we used to, or we might end up doing it over the weekends, but it’s all still in the running but I definitely think it’s for the best.

The auditions were filmed up and down the country earlier this year before social distancing measures were put in place by the Government to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

Additional reporting by Press Association.