It was a night where the semi-final’s audience caused plenty of discussion
Britain’s Got Talent viewers all had the same complaint during the second semi-final as they pleaded with ITV to ‘get rid’ of a new introduction.
It was a dramatic night on the programme, with three of the auditionees who received golden buzzers looking to secure a place in the final.
The power on who to send through rested in Simon Cowell’s hands, after Amanda Holden used hers on LED dancegroup The Blackouts last week.
While the golden buzzer has been a feature since 2014, this year marks the first time there’s been one in the semi-finals.
On top of this, the 2025 series is the first time the show isn’t airing all of its semi-finals in one week, opting instead to air them across five consecutive weeks.
Early on in the episode, opera singer John Pierce received a strong response from the audience after his performance of the song Wild Horses.
As Simon was commenting on John’s rendition of the classic song, the crowd at London’s Eventim Apollo began chanting ‘press the gold’ in unison.
Unable to get his words out due to the noise in the crowd, Simon turned around and said: “I can hear you.”
Later in the evening, Simon was blown away by 11-year-old guitarist Olly Pearson, choosing to press his golden buzzer.
Despite everyone seeming to be happy in the crowd, things turned rowdy when Japanese cheerleading group Cheer Re Man delivered a knockout routine.
Once again trying to have his say on an act, the crowd drowned Simon out with further chants of ‘send them through’.
Unsure of what to do, Simon stood up to press the golden buzzer again, only for Ant and Dec to point out that he couldn’t.
“They [the audience] asked me to. Yes you should boo,” he said to the disgruntled London crowd.
Those watching at home took to X, previously known as Twitter, in their droves to call for the golden buzzer to be removed from the semi-finals as a result of the chaos it’s causing.
@Damien2134 said: “The amount of hate I have for the audience right now.” @claireh5611 added: “Honestly get rid of that stupid golden buzzer! The audience should shut up! #BGT.”
@MattWi1kinson wrote: “The golden buzzer is a stupid system. You don’t know what’s coming next and the audience would buzzer them all if they could. #BritainsGotTalent #BGT.” @V_1999x posted: “Can the audience shut up, grow up and stop being dramatic Simon’s already got his golden buzzer act #BritainsGotTalent #BGT.”
@Nikkdthomas commented: “#BGT #BritainsGotTalent Press the buzzer, press the buzzer, press the buzzer. Someone needs to put the audience in their place.” @Rig_rig_rig_rig stated: “Audience, IT’S NOT YOUR GOLDEN BUZZER #BritainsGotTalent #BGT.”
Britain’s Got Talent airs at 7pm on Saturday nights at 7pm on ITV1 and ITVX
