Yahoo News Britain's Got Talent ITV set up backlash as act 'hand picked' for stardom
Britain's Got Talent has come under fire for what viewers are claiming was a 'complete set up' as the auditions continued on Sundaynight.
The hit ITV show returned for a new series on Saturday, with the first episode giving plenty of talking points as both Amanda Holden and Ant and Dec hit the Golden Buzzer, with Amanda hitting it for singer Syndie Christmas and Ant and Dec putting martial art acrobats Ssaulabi, after being blown away by their 'insane' audition.
While many BGT fans were in agreement with Ant and Dec's decision, Amanda's did cause come controversy, after it was discovered that Syndie already has a professional career, having starred in musicals like Grease and Starlight Express. And more eyebrows were raised as Britain's Got Talent returned to screens on Sunday, with more hopefuls aiming to impress the judges.
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One of those was 10-year-old Trey Braine but, unlike the other auditionees who walked on stage at the London Palladium, he had already met the judges, well two of them anyway, as Amanda and colleague Alesha Dixon surprised him during a meet and greet with Diversity.
The group's founder Ashley Banjo teased the big surprise, before Amanda and Alesha appeared and Amanda asked him to go and audition for BGT. Footage of the stunt aired just before viewers at home saw Trey's audition play out on screen, with him performing a street dance routine as Simon told him: "You are someone who I know i going to become a superstar."
And, although there was no denying Trey's talents, some fans were unimpressed but how blatantly staged the whole thing was, with one taking to X to react: "Jesus I hate these segments, it’s hardly auditioning when he’s literally been hand picked." and another writing: "Inviting people on just to automatically put them through seems to defeat the purpose of having a talent contest. Because we know full well they're going through otherwise why bother with the whole pre performance VT"
Among the many other criticisms of the process was one which read: "The 'set up' pieces are becoming more frequent, predictable and honestly boring"
