Where are the winners of Britain’s Got Talent now?
Britain’s Got Talent is back with its 14th series this coming weekend.
As we wait to meet the acts hoping to follow in the footsteps of the previous victors, we take a look at where some of the winners are now.
Paul Potts (2007)
The show’s first winner was working as a store manager at Carphone Warehouse before he wowed the judges with a rendition of Nessun dorma on Britain’s Got Talent in 2007.
He built a career on his victory, performing on the Oprah Winfrey Show and releasing a flurry of albums including One Chance, which went double platinum.
Potts’ life was turned into a film in 2013 with James Corden playing him in his rise to fame.
He competed in last year’s Britain’s Got Talent: The Champions but failed to make it to the final of the competition.
George Sampson (2008)
Sampson was only 14 when he won the second series of Britain’s Got Talent with his diverse street dance performances.
Winning catapulted the boy from Warrington, Cheshire, into the limelight and secured him a role in the 2008 West End production of Into The Hoods.
He also created dance DVDs and released a single, Get Up On The Dance Floor, which reached number 30 in the UK chart.
Diversity (2009)
Ashley Banjo’s street dance troupe are often hailed as one of the best acts to have graced the Britain’s Got Talent stage.
They narrowly beat Susan Boyle to win the 2009 edition of the show.
Chief choreographer Ashley went on to star in a number of programmes including The Real Full Monty and Celebrity Juice. He is also a judge on ITV’s Dancing On Ice.
His brother Jordan also found a wider audience, later entering the Australian jungle for I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! and securing a spot as host on BBC One’s The Greatest Dancer.
Ashleigh And Pudsey (2012)
The trainer and dog act charmed the nation in 2012, clinching the title with an irresistible performance to the Mission Impossible theme tune.
Their BGT fame earned them a slew of television appearances, including judging slots on Top Dog Model and That Dog Can Dance!
Pudsey’s official autobiography was released in 2012 as part of a reported £100,000 book deal and his story inspired Pudsey The Dog: The Movie, with the dog voiced by David Walliams.
The pair were involved in a Peta campaign to end cruelty to animals in circuses.
11-year-old Pudsey – a border collie, bichon frise and Chinese crested cross – died suddenly in 2017 following a leukaemia diagnosis.
Ashleigh appeared on television with her new dog, Sully, but told ITV’s This Morning: “I can’t change him into Pudsey.”
Jules And Matisse (2015)
Jules O’Dwyer and Matisse sparked controversy after O’Dwyer was accused of swapping the border collie for a stunt double in the semi-finals.
Regulator Ofcom and ITV were inundated with complaints and it was ruled that viewers had been misled.
However, the act was renamed Jules, Matisse And Friends and they went on to perform at the Royal Variety Performance.
They also returned to the BGT stage for a performance in 2016.
Lost Voice Guy (2018)
The comedian – real name Lee Ridley – has cerebral palsy and rose to fame after competing using pre-recorded sentences on a computer for his stand-up act.
Ridley admits that he struggled with the pressures of fame following his win, which led to him performing for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex at the Royal Variety Performance.
However, his increased profile allowed him to embark on a tour of the UK, return to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and create a BBC Radio 4 sitcom called Ability.
Colin Thackery (2019)
Sergeant Major Colin Thackery won last year’s series of Britain’s Got Talent and in the same year signed his first solo album deal aged 89.
The Chelsea Pensioner signed a deal which is a partnership between Decca Records and Simon Cowell’s Syco Entertainment.
Of course this was my highlight of 2019! #bgt
A post shared by Colin Thackery (@colinthackerysings) on Dec 31, 2019 at 2:51am PST
According to Decca Records, who also have Dame Vera Lynn on their roster, Thackery made history as they claim he is the oldest person in the world to sign a debut solo album deal.
An average of 8.5 million people watched Thackery win the ITV talent show after performing his rendition of Love Changes Everything.
In his first audition he sang Wind Beneath My Wings as a tribute to his late wife, Joan, who died in 2016.
He and Joan had only been married for two weeks when he was sent to Korea and they were apart for the next two years, he says on his profile on the Chelsea Pensioners website.
Britain’s Got Talent airs on ITV on April 11 at 8pm