Simon Cowell has been dealt a blow, following the news that this year’s ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ pulled in the lowest viewing figures in the show’s history.
The 10th series wrapped up on Saturday night (28 May), and saw Richard Jones becoming the first magician to ever win ‘BGT’, with swing singer Wayne Woodward finishing in second place.
New figures have now been released, revealing that the show’s grand finale averaged at around eight million viewers, the lowest ratings in the nine years that ‘BGT’ has been on the air.
Although a million more viewers tuned in over the course of the episode, the show peaked at 9.7 million, marking the first time ever that ‘BGT’ hasn’t been able to hit the 10 million mark.
This follows a rather ropey series of ‘The X Factor’, which also had its lowest ever ratings for its live final at the tail-end of last year, as well as its lowest-charting winner’s single with Louisa Johnson’s ‘Forever Young’.
The ‘BGT’ final pulled out all the stops - in addition to Richard Jones’ emotional winning performance, it also featured a reunion of ‘BGT’ acts from over the past nine years, including Diversity, George Sampson and Stavros Flatley.
Richard’s victory has proved to be a particularly controversial one, following accusations that he copied both his semi-final and final performances from two different magicians from ‘America’s Got Talent’.
Defending himself amid the controversy, he’s said that “evolving” other people’s ideas is “what magic is all about”, adding: “New ideas won’t always be found nowadays so I’m thinking what I can do that’s similar but make it more understanding and more updated.”
