Britain’s Got Talent’s first-ever winner Paul Potts has called on bosses to make a big change to the ITV competition.
Opera singer Paul, 54, shot to fame when he won the show – which returns tonight (April 26) – way back in 2007. Since then, his career has gone from strength to strength.
And with the new series of Britain’s Got Talent underway, Paul has exclusively shared his thoughts with Entertainment Daily – and it seems he is not keen on one new aspect…
Paul Potts calls for change on Britain’s Got Talent
Former mobile phone salesman Paul Potts won Britain’s Got Talent in 2007 and bagged the eye-watering £100,000 cash prize.
After his stint, he released a chart-topping album and has continued to release more music, as well as a memoir. He also successfully reached the finals of America’s Got Talent in 2019.
But 18 years since being crowned the champ, and speaking exclusively to ED!, Paul has called out the show over a big change to the series.
Usually, Britain’s Got Talent’s semi-finals are aired back to back over a week. However, this year things are looking different as the semi-finals will now be airing weekly, and spread out over several weeks.
But according to Paul, he reckons they should have included a second round of auditions instead.
“I think in some ways; they’ve had a missed opportunity. It is great to have them split across weeks as that gives the contestants more time to prepare,” he told us, on behalf of Sky Vegas.
Paul Potts suggests second round of auditions
The TV star then revealed his own suggestion to switch things up to make things “exciting”.
He shared: “I stand by a suggestion I made last year, it would be great if they could have a proper second round, like they used to have on America’s Got Talent. They used to have a ‘Vegas round’ and it’s a real pity that on BGT they only did Blackpool.
“They could have toured the country and used Blackpool as the ‘Vegas round’ and still gone to different cities like they used to. Having a second round means viewers can see the progression of the contestants from round to round.”
Paul on what would make BGT ‘more exciting’
Referring to his time on the show, Paul continued: “In my year they didn’t have a second round, it was just kind of a decision, but in my year, everything was done in just nine days, so it was a bit more difficult to do that.”
Putting forward his suggestion of including a second round, Paul went on: “I think next year they should try and go back out into the provinces again. And have a second round where contestants compete against each other for a place in the semi-finals – I think that would make it more exciting.”
Britain’s Got Talent airs on Saturday (April 26) at 7:00pm on ITV1.
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