Britain’s Got Talent: Ultimate Magician fans were left divided as some took to social media to complain just minutes into the one-off special.
Amanda Holden, Alesha Dixon and David Walliams were joined by magic expert Penn Jillette instead of usual BGT judge Simon Cowell, while the show was hosted by Stephen Mulhern.
But while some viewers were thrilled at the switch-up to the show, which saw both Simon and Ant and Dec missing, others weren’t as convinced.
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One fan posted: “Where the f*** is Simon?”
Another added: “Where’s Simon,” adding a crying emoji.
A third chipped in: “Quiet without Simon in the judges panel.”
A fourth swiped: “Where’s Simon in the judges panel? Has he melted because of how much Botox he’s had?”
Simon’s absence from the show was previously announced by ITV as he had other TV commitments when the special was filmed in October.
Amanda addressed the change before the show aired, telling Express.co.uk: “‘At first, you are like, ‘Is it going to be any good without Simon?’
“But Penn stood in for him and in a lot of ways, he was a better choice for this special because you had somebody that knew what they were talking about.
“Every time an act came on, he then told me the history of the act, where it came from, who invented it, how it has evolved, who was the first person to do it and then he talked to me about Vegas, his residency and his own background.
“He’s just a fascinating man and he’s the king of what he does, the acts were so nervous to perform in front of him. Penn knows his stuff so actually it worked out really, really well.”
Meanwhile, this could be David’s last series on the show after he was caught making derogatory remarks about contestants on the ITV series.
A show spokesperson said: “”he judging panel for Britain’s Got Talent 2023 will be announced in due course.
“It’s still very much up in the air at the moment on whether David is going to take part in next year’s show. No decision, though, has been made as yet.”
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
