Britain’s Got Talent semi-final ‘goes to pot’ as two acts derail live performances

Britain’s Got Talent hosts Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly were left fighting for their lives when the first live show was thrown into pure chaos.

Tonight, not one but two acts were forced to delay their performances due to ‘not being ready’, meaning Ant and Dec had to think on their feet.

The first was schoolboy magician Teddy Magic, who was due to be the second act on stage.

Before his performance, however, a schedule shake-up was announced, with Scottish singer Vinnie McKee taking his place in the lineup.

Ahead of opening the public vote, Dec later confirmed Teddy had pulled out of the semi-final, telling viewers: ‘Unfortunately, Teddy won’t be performing tonight but we hope to see him later in the series.’

It remains to be seen whether he will get the chance to share his magic again during another show.

Adding to the carnage, dance troupe The Blackouts also suffered a technical difficulty.

This meant Ant and Dec had to throw to the judges for another chat before the group, who perform with LED lights strapped to them to create incredible imagery, could begin their routine.

‘You’re not going to believe this, but they’re not quite ready,’ Dec laughed.

Thankfully, The Blackouts were able to perform their full number and earned a wild reaction from the live audience, as well as Amanda Holden’s live Golden Buzzer, sending them straight through to the final in six weeks.

Taking to X amid all the chaos, BGT viewers were keen to speculate about what was going down behind the scenes.

On eight-year-old Teddy’s absence, viewers repeatedly expressed their worry, with @AmyTeamLH writing halfway through the show when he was still absent: ‘I’m getting rather concerned now…’

‘Teddy is 8 years old and has probably got upset and maybe doesn’t want to go on, that’s put the whole show out now!’, wrote @CarryOnDaniel.

@michellepryde also noticed that Amanda referred to musician Vinnie as ‘Teddy’ after his ‘amazing’ performance of Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol.

‘What a shambles. Doesn’t even know the names of the acts’, they tweeted.

‘This show ran 5 nights a week seamlessly for years, now it’s a Saturday night and it’s all gone to pot’, @superTV247 chimed in.

Others heaped praise on Ant and Dec for keeping the live show afloat, with @philipaston44 writing: ‘Ant & Dec yet again prove their professionalism, knowing how to fill up the void and get the show going when things don’t go to plan.’

The Geordie duo even managed to crack a joke about the disastrous state of the programme later on.

In conversation with Simon Cowell, they asked if he was ‘having fun,’ to which the music mogul confirmed he does not look at the running order ahead of the semi-final to ensure he is surprised.

‘I have no idea who is coming on,’ he said, to which Ant and Dec quipped, ‘Neither do we tonight!’

Bruno Tonioli then piped up with: ‘No one knows what’s going on!’

Well, since BGT has changed the format this year to air the semi-finals weekly instead of over the course of one week, at least they have another seven days to iron out the creases.

Britain’s Got Talent continues next Saturday on ITV1 and ITVX.

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