Michael McIntyre’s New Show Hit By Accusations Of Audience Manipulation

Comedy wag Michael McIntyre’s Big Show has been plunged into a ‘fakery’ row.

On Saturday, five million viewers watched the comic, below, lure Welsh hairdresser Natasha John to the TV studios thinking she was there to work.

He told the audience beforehand she was a professional hairdresser who liked to sing.

McIntyre then revealed to Natasha she had been set up and would be singing with Michael Ball, pictured below picking up his OBE in January.

She gasped: “Oh my god. I can’t believe this. I feel like I’m in a dream.”

And 30 minutes later the pair sang The Prayer together in front of the 2,500 strong audience.

But viewers of the BBC show smelled a rat, with one teweeting: ‘I’d be interested to know how long she had to rehearse. There’s no way she learned that in an hour.’

Another commented: ‘I presume production staff saw her perform it somewhere else.’

And the Daily Star today revealed they were correct – Natasha was no amateur.

She previously trained with Charlotte Church’s vocal coach and sang for 7,000 people at a rugby match in Cardiff.

The crimper also sang for MPs at a Christmas party and sells CDs of her music.

A show spokesman told the Daily Star Natasha has “dreams of becoming a full-time singer”, adding: “It was great to see her have the confidence to take centre stage and perform in front of millions of viewers on Saturday night.”

Pictures Getty Images