Britain's Got Talent (often abbreviated to BGT) is a televised British talent show competition, and part of the global Got Talent franchise created by Simon Cowell. Presented by Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly (popularly known as Ant & Dec), it is produced by Talkback Thames (Thames from 2012 to 2024) and Syco Entertainment (until 2025), distributed by Fremantle, and broadcast on ITV every year (except 2021) in late Spring to early Summer. The show was originally intended for production in 2005, but filming was delayed after the intended host, Paul O'Grady, stepped down. Following the success of America's Got Talent that year, production resumed, and the programme eventually premiered on 9 June 2007.
The show is broadcast on ITV1 in the UK and Virgin Media One in the Republic of Ireland.
Every year, contestants of any age can audition for the televised contest with whatever talent they wish to demonstrate. During auditions, participants seek to impress a panel of judges – presently consisting of Cowell, Amanda Holden, Alesha Dixon, and KSI – in order to secure a place in the live rounds of the contest. Once in the live rounds, participants seek to impress the public and judges to secure votes, in order to reach the final and a chance to win a cash prize and a place within that year's performances for the Royal Variety Performance before members of the British royal family. As of 2026, the show has had 19 winners, ranging from musicians and singers to variety acts, magicians, dancers, and comedians.
On average, each series of Britain's Got Talent draws viewing figures of 6 to 10 million viewers. The show's live final in the third series attracted a record 17.3 million viewers, obtaining a 64.6% audience share at the time of its broadcast. Each series of the main programme is accompanied by a sister show, Britain's Got More Talent, presented by Stephen Mulhern. Until June 2019, the programme was aired on ITV2, but has since been moved to online platforms. A spin-off featuring the same judges and hosts, titled Britain's Got Talent: The Champions, was later produced and broadcast in 2019 following the success of the American edition's spin-off America's Got Talent: The Champions. Britain's Got Talent is contracted to run until 2028.
Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)
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