Britain’s Got Talent fans have been left furious that the show is a “fix” after they discovered winner Axel Blake already had his own Amazon Prime show.
The comedian shot to fame in the 2022 series of the ITV talent show as Simon Cowell’s golden buzzer act – but his win left fans with a sour taste as they suggested the judges already knew who they wanted to win.
And some were left even more furious that Axel had already landed his own comedy special on Amazon Prime just two years before shooting to fame on BGT.
His TV special I’m Not Gonna Lie was released on the premium streaming service in 2020, and was filmed at the O2 arena in London, at its indigo events space.
The show’s official bio on the O2 website dubs Axel a “renowned name in the world of stand-up comedy and social media”, introducing his “headline show” which framed the former UNILAD presenter as a “champion comic and robust headliner” who had “solidified his place” on the scene.
He has also starred in ITV special Pranksterz alongside the likes of Judi Love.
And fuming fans were quick to call the move of casting someone already famous as the winner as unfair, taking to Twitter in their droves.
One viewer fumed: “Why not tell us you had an amazon prime TV show Axel Blake you’re ‘not gonna lie’?”
As another said: “Axel Blake, while very funny, has already done a sold out shown at the O2 and an Amazon prime special!? I though BGT was about finding new talent?”
“Axel Blake, very polished, just check out his website, IMDb entry, Amazon Prime show or his live tour dates… not a new act by a long shot, another ringer like Loren Allred, show is an absolute joke,” a third posted.
While someone else echoed: “‘Think we have found a star’ how embarrassing that Simon Cowell doesn’t know that Axel Blake is already professional, has his own show on Amazon prime and it worth 4 to 5 million pounds!!!”
However, many more came out in support of Axel, as one pointed out: “‘His own prime show’ it ain’t f***ing Netflix, they didn’t make it, anyone can put stuff on Amazon.”
Someone else agreed: “You do realise that anybody can publish a video on Amazon prime.
“Just because you have a video on prime doesn’t mean you’ve made it, the video needs to sell and it can’t sell if nobody knows who you are. Axel Blake Won BGT and it wasn’t a fix.”
It comes as fans were also left unhappy that professional singer Loren Allred – whose vocals have featured in musical blockbusters like The Greatest Showman and Dear Evan Hansen – also got the golden buzzer and soared through to the final.
Meanwhile, Axel has set the record straight on his show, as he explained: “I put that show on myself.”
He told Lorraine Kelly on her ITV show: “I put my money where my mouth is and I achieved that, but it didn’t…. It looks like, ‘Oh my gosh, it’s Amazon Prime’, but if they saw the back end, it didn’t look like that financially, a lot of stress…
“I had to borrow from other people, to say, ‘Listen, I need to do something, I’ve already put the deposit down and stuff… Then after that, Amazon picked it up. So it wasn’t for Amazon Prime. I didn’t know they were going to pick it up.
“That was like a year later.”
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
