Simon Cowell has been revealing some behind-the-scenes secrets from Britain’s Got Talent, explaining that Amanda Holden was actually Cheryl’s replacement on the judging panel, and that now, she’s here to stay.


Copyright [Tom Dymond/ITV]

Chatting to the Radio Times, Simon revealed that Cheryl originally signed up to sit on the BGT panel when the show started in 2007, but after she pulled out at the last-minute, Amanda was drafted in as her replacement - and the rest, as they say, is history.


He explained: “Cheryl [Fernandez-Versini] was supposed to be in Amanda’s place, but with days to go she backed out. We called ITV and they suggested two people — one was Amanda and the other was a girl on Corrie. Now I couldn’t imagine doing the show without Amanda.

“She enjoys every minute of it, never gets fed up, is easy to work with and is the voice of the public.”

A married couple from Belfast wowed David Walliams to become the third Golden Buzzer act on Britain’s Got Talent.

Ian Marshall, 64, and his wife Anne, 61, put their own spin on Crazy In Love by Beyonce.

The duo enthralled David and fellow judges Simon Cowell, Alesha Dixon and Amanda Holden with their unconventional performance.

After David hit the Golden Buzzer, which gives the couple an automatic place in the live shows, he headed to the stage.


“I think you really are the spirit of Britain’s Got Talent, the pair of you,” he told them.

“You spend your whole lives doing something else, you’ve got this beautiful relationship and you did a Beyonce song for no apparent reason.”

Simon said: “I just knew David was going to do that, but actually, for once, I get it.”

The couple, who met while serving in the army and have now been married for 44 years, said the Beyonce hit sums up how they feel about each other.


“We’ve come to Britain’s Got Talent to win it, obviously,” the 64-year-old said before their audition.

The stakes are high as the 2016 winner will receive a cash prize of £250,000 and a slot on the Royal Variety Performance.

Earlier in the ITV show, Presentation School Choir’s choral director Veronica McCarron appeared to catch Simon’s eye.

Brunettes have more fun – with Simon Cowell.

The X Factor boss once turned down Amanda Holden on a date and told her: “I don’t fancy blondes.”

Amanda, 45, told how their night out was such a flop she ordered a taxi at 10.30pm to take her home.


Simon and Amanda didn’t get on when they went out.

The TV presenter said: “A very long time ago, when we were both single, we went on a date but I pre-ordered a cab to come and get me at 10.30pm, which made him laugh. He never forgets that.”

Amanda has been a judge on Britain’s Got Talent since Cowell, 56, launched the show in 2007.


She admitted to being as “surprised” as anyone else that she has survived his famous judging panel culls.

Amanda with husband Chris Hughes.

But the mum-of-two denied Cowell has kept her on because she is sexy.

She told the Daily Mail: “Simon always tells people that he hired me because he fancied me, but that’s absolute nonsense – he doesn’t go for blondes.


“It’s more a surprise to me than anyone else that after 10 years I’m still here.

“I went into it thinking it would be one show and that would be it, but I never expected to love it as much as I do.”

Amanda Holden has proven that she has got TALENT that reaches beyond being an actress, singer and presenter!

On Wednesday, the 45-year-old posted a playful video of herself tap dancing in nothing more than a towel and a pair of heels (check it out above).


Instagram [noholdenback]

It’s safe to say that her 148,000 followers would have pressed their golden buzzers had she been auditioning for Britain’s Got Talent.

Aside from the dancing, another talent on display is her multi-tasking, as she brushes her teeth while not missing a step on the tiled bathroom floor.


What’s more, the BGT judge is tapping her feet to Jessie J’s hit single, Bang Bang and truly making it her own!

Instagram [noholdenback]

Holden is clearly squeezing in rehearsals for her upcoming role in the dance-focused play, Stepping Out, whenever she can.

In which case, we’ve imagined a whole host of other circumstances that the actress should be practising her routines to, including tap dancing while applying make-up, tap dancing while hoovering and (our favourite) tap dancing while frying some eggs.

The star managed to pause to write a caption alongside her video, which plugged the theatre show and encouraged her fans to buy tickets.

Amanda Holden found herself on the other side of the Britain’s Got Talent judging panel this weekend - and proved a spectacular flop.

Copyright [Wenn]

The Britain’s Got Talent judge was given the cold-shoulder by an unimpressed crowd while attempting to sing Disney classic Let It Go from hit film Frozen.

The 44-year-old threw down her microphone in response to the frosty reception and strutted off stage to a chorus of heckles.

Amanda took to the stage for the impromptu performance after Ant McPartlin joked to the Birmingham Hippodrome audience that she was leaving the show after this series.


Producers then began playing The Spice Girls ‘Goodbye’.

The TV star ran on stage to deny the claims, telling the crowd the news was “utter b**s”. She said: “I’m not leaving. I was thinking that I”m going to have a fantastic song to walk down to.

Simon Cowell has come up with a new excuse for why he was late to work at the Britain’s Got Talent 2016 auditions in London.

Reports claim he left the audience waiting for an hour because he was busy getting a tan. Yep.

According to The Daily Star, an audience warm-up artist said to fans: “We’ve had to delay the show because Simon is stuck in the tanning booth.”

An onlooker added: “Some of the audience were visibly p**sed off by the news and started to boo and slow handclap.”

He eventually arrived to get the show on the road at 4.30pm.

This isn’t the first drama to have hit the BGT auditions this year, with reports claiming Amanda Holden threw three glasses of water over Simon during previous auditions.

Copyright [Syco / Thames / Corbis]

Simon was allegedly left ‘fuming’, accusing Amanda of ruining a £50,000 microphone.

The Mirror reports that Simon annoyed Amanda when he compared hopeful Joe Gibson to a bad date he’d had with her.

He reportedly told the auditionee: “It kind of reminded me when I went out for dinner with Amanda once, I liked the first half and then half way through I kind of thought, ‘That’s enough’, it felt like it was missing something, it was unoriginal.

Amanda Holden has ditched her clothes to extol the virtues of ditching meat from your diet.

The Britain’s Got Talent judge, 45, lies naked on a bed of green cabbages with just the words “Go Veggie: Your body will love you for it” to cover her modesty.

The un-retouched Peta campaign points out that vegetarians are, on average, slimmer than carnivores and have lower rates of heart disease and cancer.

Amanda said: “My vegetarian lifestyle keeps my body trim, gives me loads of energy and makes me feel happy. So when Peta suggested not retouching this image, I said, “Why not?” – the image is as natural as my lifestyle.”

“I have been a vegetarian since I was 13. For me, there are many benefits. My skin’s always good. I never feel bloated. The best thing you can do for animals is to just leave them off your plate.”

The campaign also hopes to raise awareness that going vegetarian will reduce your carbon footprint and spare potential animal suffering on factory farms, in abattoirs and on fishing boats.

Amanda joins the ranks of Sir Paul McCartney, Vivienne Westwood, Pamela Anderson, John Bishop and Lucy Watson who have all teamed up with Peta to promote meat-free meals.

Amanda Holden’s first day guest-presenting Lorraine Kelly on ITV’s popular morning show sparked a flurry of tweets by Lorraine viewers.

The Britain’s Got Talent judge and actress is in the hot seat until April 8, but day one of her fill-in stint prompted remarks centred around her face.

Amanda is no stranger to ITV Daytime. She has presented Lorraine once before and last year she presented This Morning alongside Phillip Schofield during Holly Willoughby’s maternity leave.

But despite her credentials, a good deal of the focus on social media was about her face.