Britain's Got Talent ventriloquist act causes Simon Cowell to storm off stage

He doesn't look happy!

Simon Cowell and David Walliams
Author: Anna Sky MagliolaPublished 31st May 2019
Last updated 31st May 2019

All this week we've been seeing the live semi-finals of Britain's Got Talent, but it hasn't all been going to plan. On Monday, viewers thought they spotted how The Haunting's magic trick was done, and then yesterday the wrong acts were put on the leaderboard! And now it seems that Simon Cowell wasn't exactly happy about Jimmy Tamley’s ventriloquist act, which saw him and fellow judge David Walliams wearing creepy mouth masks!

As Jimmy introduced the act, he called both judges onto the stage before a 'conversation' between them took place resulting in them 'doing' the can-can. But whilst David Walliams got up and started doing the dance with a lot of enthusiasm, Simon stayed firmly planted on the stool, before Jimmy tried to make the stern judge get up and join in.

It was at this point that it seemed like Simon had enough of the act and stormed off backstage, before taking off the mask, much to everyone's surprise, as the audience started to boo. Undeterred by Simon's absence, Jimmy carried on briefly with David, before they managed to get Simon back on stage, where he reluctantly put the mask on again, to cheers from the audience.

The act ended with the pair climbing into a box, before being 'shipped' to David's bedroom and being let out, much to Simon's relief.

The moment was a hot topic on Twitter with many viewers tweeting about their thoughts of Simon walking off. One said, 'Tbf @SimonCowell had a right to walk off, if u don’t feel comfortable doing something you shouldn’t have to do it! The team should’ve known he wouldn’t have taken part and the act has less of a chance going thro due to the fact he couldn’t do the full act? 🤷🏼‍♀️ #BGT #simoncowell' sic

Another viewer tweeted, 'Very rude of @SimonCowell to walk off during jimmys act. Hope it didn’t cost him his place in the final. #bgt'. sic

However, despite Simon's 'storming off' apparently it's not all as it seems, and despite his apparent look of relief once the act was over, Metro.co.uk are reporting a source telling them, "Simon is absolutely fine. He’s been laughing about it during the ad break. There’s been lots of laughter in the dressing room, with a few production members jokingly acting with their tails between their legs! But Simon saw the funny side."

They went on to explain that Simon has an old skiing injury which would have caused problems doing the can-can, so Simon decided to leave the stage to avoid the embarrassment of not being able to do it.

Now take a look at all of the Britain's Got Talent winners so far:

Paul Potts

Paul Potts won the very first show in 2007 with his hugely impressive singing abilities.

George Sampson

Break dancer George Sampson won the show in 2008 at the age of just 14-years-old.

Diversity

Dance group Diversity won the show in 2009, with Ashley Banjo going on to become a TV presenter.

Spellbound

The 2010 series also saw a dance group win in the form of Spellbound, pictured here performing with singer Katherine Jenkins that year.

Jai McDowall

Singer Jai McDowall won the show in 2011.

Ashleigh and Pudsey

Dog performing act Ashleigh and Pudsey were winners of the 2012 series. However, Pudsey sadly passed away in July 2017.

Attraction

Another dance group won over the public in 2013, as Attraction used shadows and puppets to create beautiful spectacles - pictured here with actor Terry Crews.

Collabro

Singing group Collabro wowed viewers in 2014 with their performances of musical theatre songs.

Jules and Matisse

Britain's Got Talent saw its second dog act winner in 2015 with Jules and Matisse.

Richard Jones

Magician Richard Jones won the hearts of the nation in 2016.

Tokio Myers

Pianist and music producer Tokio Myers won the show in 2017, pictured here with BGT judge Amanda Holden.

Lost Voice Guy

Lost Voice Guy, real name Lee Ridley, won in 2018.

Colin Thackery

Colin Thackery won Britain's Got Talent 2019 with a heartwarming performance of 'Love Changes Everything'.

Jon Courtenay

Comedy singer Jon Courtenay was crowned the winner of the 2020 series! Jon was a favourite from his very first audition, picking up Ant and Dec's Golden Buzzer!

Axel Blake

Simon Cowell's Golden Buzzer act, comedian Axel Blake, was crowned the 2022 winner of Britain's Got Talent, beating the likes of ventriloquist Jamie Leahy and singer Tom Ball.

Viggo Venn

Norwegian comedian Viggo Venn won the 2023 series of Britain's Got Talent with his high vis jacket inspired routine. He said he was happy to have captured 'Simon's heart' as well as the nation's.

Sydnie Christmas

Sydnie Christmas won the 2024 series of Britain's Got Talent, the singer who dreams of performing on the West End told Ant and Dec: "I cannot believe the amount of love that I've felt since it aired. I am overwhelmed with love and it is the most amazing thing.
"And I wish for one day that every single person in this room feels the way I do one day with this love. It's amazing, thank you so much!"

On last night's show Mark McMullan and Ben Hart got through to the final and tonight we'll get to see the last of the live semi-finals on ITV.

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