‘WE WILL ALL MISS HUGGING EACH OTHER'

AS BRITAIN’S GOT TALENT RETURNS FOR THE SEMI-FINALS AMANDA HOLDEN REVEALS WHY THE SHOW’S NEW RULES HAVE GOT HER EMOTIONAL

- KATIE LANGFORD-FOSTER

Just like the rest of us, Amanda Holden is having to adapt to a “new normal”. She says being forced to social distance from fellow Britain’s Got Talent judges, Simon Cowell, Alesha Dixon and David Walliams, will be “emotional” as the show returns for the long-awaited semi-finals.

She explains, “Being a metre apart will be annoying because we’re a very emotive judging panel and we hug one another if an act has been particularly emotional and sets one of us off crying.”

The show will return without a studio audience, with contestants performing only to the judges.

Amanda, 49, and her husband Chris Hughes are parents to Lexi, 14, and Hollie, eight, and their daughters have often joined her at the studio for previous series.

“It’s going to feel very odd explaining to all our kids that they can’t come and hang out backstage,” says Amanda, adding, “It’s going to feel weird with new rules in place. There will be laughter and I’m sure there will be tears, too.”