Jeremy Clarkson in tears as Hawkstone Farmers Choir is declared Britain’s Got Talent winner

After another series of controversial golden buzzer moments, nail-biting stunt acts, and classic Ant and Dec gags, the winner of Britain’s Got Talent 2026 has been revealed.

Tonight, 10 finalists performed for the final time in a bid to secure enough viewer votes to bag the £250,000 prize and a slot at the Royal Variety Performance.

For the first time this season, judges Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden, Alesha Dixon, and KSI were powerless and could only sit back and enjoy the show before the Geordie hosts declared the champion.

And after over one million viewer votes, it was Jeremy Clarkson’s Hawkstone Farmers Choir who took that title, with the Clarkson’s Farm star visibly emotional as the result was revealed.

The singers – the first choir to win BGT – beat stiff competition from a varied batch of fellow finalists, including a dog act, a fire-juggler, and even drone performers.

This year’s finalists were Matty Juniosa, Sadeck Berrabah and LMA, Fabian Fox, Liwei Yang, Ted Hill, Sonny Green, and Rafferty Coope. Anastasiia and Salsa came third, while Celestial placed second.

However, not all viewers were impressed with the offerings, with many taking to X to slam it as the ‘worst final’ in BGT’s 19-year history.

An enraged @RhysxRose wrote midway through: ‘Can we just finish this already….may be the worst final ever’, with @superTV247 agreeing: ‘To nobody’s surprise, this is the worst final this show has ever had’.

@Scotthopper1 called it a ‘thoroughly underwhelming’ final, while @mr_chambers_ believes the programme has ‘run its course’.

@siamese1994 echoed that the quality tonight was ‘poor’, and a saddened @RyanJL recalled that such occasions used to feel like ‘event TV’ – indeed, BGT live shows used to pull in upwards of 10million viewers, a stark contrast to the new low of 3m.

BGT’s series 19 winner succeeds 25-year-old magician Harry Moulding, who triumphed in 2025 and even made a surprise cameo tonight during an epic reveal in fellow magician Fabian’s set.

Elsewhere in tonight’s grand final, the Sinatra Musical opened the show in style, while judge Alesha reunited with Mis-Teeq bandmates Sabrina Washington and Su-Elise Nash for their first performance in over 20 years.

It’s been an eventful run of BGT, which marked YouTuber-turned-boxer KSI’s first as a full-time judge after Bruno Tonioli’s exit.

Although the rapper hasn’t had a smooth ride, as he came under fire earlier this month when clips resurfaced of him joking about hitting a pregnant woman and about rape.

While KSI never publicly addressed the 2012 footage, Lucy Duckworth of rape support organisation The Survivors Trust said his remarks could not be ‘justified’, adding to The Sun: ‘You can’t joke about somebody else’s lived experience of being victimised.’

Back to the show itself, we had a twist in the rules thanks to Ant and Dec, who intervened during musician MC Tazo’s audition when it looked like he’d be going home, persuading the judges to let their own ‘yes’ vote count to salvage his place.

Viewers at home were anything but impressed, slamming the ITV programme for ‘overruling’ the format to ‘get someone through’.

And that was far from the first time viewers expressed their annoyance with BGT due to the participation of horrifying ‘self-harm’ acts that were barely watchable.

Earlier in the series, Leroy Patterson, who had travelled from the States to showcase his, ahem, talents, had viewers and judges alike wincing by throwing himself onto a pile of mousetraps, sitting on a strip of carpet tacks, and, for the big finish, running through a tunnel of wheat strimmers.

The act was branded one of the ‘worst things’ ever aired on BGT, with one viewer threatening to complain to Ofcom.

It hasn’t all been controversial, though – as ever, we’ve had plenty of laughs along the way, perhaps most famously when Ant and Dec hosted the first semi-final after the dramatic I’m A Celebrity final, in which Adam Thomas, David Haye, and Jimmy Bullard came to blows.

Issuing a warning to the panel as the live shows kicked off, Ant pleaded for them to be on their ‘best behaviour’.

‘We had quite enough drama on the telly last night,’ he quipped.

Simon then admitted that the panel could be ‘very, very naughty’, to which Dec agreed.

Britain’s Got Talent, which began in 2007 and was first won by opera singer Paul Potts, may have just ended its current series, but the countdown is now on to the 20th anniversary, as 2027 will mark two decades since the talent show launched.

Catch up with Britain’s Got Talent 2026 on ITVX.

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