Britain’s Got Talent bosses had to step in to stop judge and producer Simon Cowell from causing absolute mayhem on set.
While other competition shows fall by the wayside or face uncertain futures, the ITV talent competition returns tonight for a spry 19th season.
The ever-changing judging panel on the show – which offers up a prize of £250,000 and a spot at the Royal Variety Performance – has a new fourth face, with KSI replacing Bruno Tonioli as a permanent judge.
This change brought out Cowell’s ‘naughty side’, fellow judge Alesha Dixon told Metro and other press ahead of the 2026 premiere – as became evident when he learned his hotel in Blackpool had a joke shop (as well as a nearby rollercoaster).
Cowell admitted that he went in and bought a trove of stink bombs, which Amanda Holden claimed didn’t leave the production team best pleased when they found out about it.
Get personalised updates on Britain's Got Talent
Wake up to find news on your TV shows in your inbox every morning with Metro’s TV Newsletter.
Sign up to our newsletter and then select your show in the link we’ll send you so we can get TV news tailored to you.
‘Word got round that the stink bombs had been bought and the producers gave us a big talking to. We weren’t allowed them,’ she explained.
The judging panel has billed this season as an altogether more bonkers and British affair, with competition rife over who would get which act for their prized golden buzzer.
‘We were fighting over the golden buzzers a lot. That was funny,’ Cowell laughed, prompting Dixon to share the one act that got her to dive across the panel desk for the big button.
‘I could sense Simon getting up, and I literally dived. I’ve never dived before. I dived onto the desk,’ the singer said, then adding of the production team, ‘and then they wanted me to recreate this dive.
Don’t miss a TV review! Add us as a Preferred Source
As a loyal Metro TV reader, we want to make sure you never miss our articles when searching for stories. Our TV experts are here to bring you all the latest reviews, streaming updates, videos, and exclusive interviews, with a vibrant community of highly engaged readers.
Click here and tick Metro.co.uk to ensure you see stories from us first in Google Search.
‘I said, How can I recreate this? I injured myself just to stop him getting his way. But it was so funny.
‘For me overall, this season felt like we were back to the chaos that we love on our show. More than ever it just felt really bonkers.’
From the sounds of things, it is also a vintage year for the acts on stage. Ant McPartlin said he and Dec Donnelly were ‘surprised more this series than ever before’ from their vantage point in the wings of the theatre at auditions.
‘Britain’s Got Talent is the one show on telly where you just don’t know what’s going to come on screen from one week to the next.
‘We’ve been doing it for 19 seasons now and when they walk around the corner, that’s the first time we’ve seen them.
‘When we’ve gone into a new series, we think we’ve seen it all. We really haven’t. We’re surprised every series, and we’re surprised more this series than ever before.’
This article was originally published on Sunday February 15.
Britain’s Got Talent returns tonight at 7pm on ITV1 and ITVX.
Got a story?
If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.
