“WE LIKEN IT TO THE MUPPETS'

Ant and Dec on the chaos that makes Britain's Got Talent so watchable and the jaw-dropping talent in series 17

- PHOEBE TONKS

Judges Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden, Alesha Dixon and Bruno Tonioli are on the lookout for a new act to perform at the Royal Variety Performance and scoop the coveted £250,000 grand prize. And following the conclusion of their award-winning series Saturday Night Takeaway, show hosts Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly are back at the helm to make sure the judges don’t stray too far out of line.

“They’ve been even more badly behaved than before,” reveals Dec as he reflects on what the panel have been up to over the past few months.

“It’s not just the pressing of the golden buzzers numerous times, they’ve also played tricks on us,” adds Ant. “Normally it’s us pranking the judges, but the tables have been turned this year and we weren’t expecting that. Naughty judges!”

Throughout the 17 series of the show, Ant and Dec have delighted audiences with their on-screen pranks, which have included everything from dressing up in fur suits and masquerading as fake contestants the Disco Dogs in 2019, through to sabotaging Bruno’s show debut in 2023, by telling the former Strictly Come Dancing judge that he had a golden buzzer to give out every single day.