FOR nearly two decades, Britain’s Got Talent has entertained us with a huge variety of acts, including comedians, singers and daredevils.
And while many of the eye-popping acts on the ITV show have gone without a hitch, a few have had near-catastrophic consequences.
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Last night, during the finals, a member of the dance group Ssaulabi suffered a horrific accident while performing a stunt.
The high-energy showing saw two performers hoisted through the air while kicking wooden blocks.
As the audience cheered, the spectacle quickly went awry after the two collided in the air, leaving one to land badly on his foot. Although he tried to stand up, he collapsed on the floor and was forced to crawl off stage.
Judge Alesha Dixon was visibly shaken by the incident and said she hoped he was okay.
Many fans took to social media wondering whether the dancer had broken his foot.
Here, we look at other on-stage accidents and mishaps that have left BGT audiences and viewers in utter shock.
Knife throwing disaster
In 2014, show judge Simon Cowell was left shaken when a then 11-year-old Edward Pinder almost injured him with a knife.
Simon offered to assist knife thrower Edward on stage during his act. While the first landed on the board behind Simon, the second actually hit the entertainment mogul, drawing gasps from the audience.
The blade hit Simon before falling to the ground. Luckily, he was not hurt.
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A shocked Amanda Holden later quipped: “You almost killed Simon Cowell!”
Edward told The Sun: “Simon was a bit nervous. It was going on in the back of my mind that I could throw the knives a bit closer, but in the end, I thought, ‘no, better not.'”
Escape hell
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Escapologist Matt Johnson shocked viewers when he introduced his dangerous act in 2018.
He locked his head into a transparent water-filled cage and slammed his chest into a straight steel jacket.
Before his mind-boggling attempt, he warned that he would be in trouble if he could not free himself after 1 minute and 45 seconds.
The judges and audience members looked on in panic as the time passed. Matt could be seen struggling to free himself. He later gestured for a paramedic nearby to help him.
As the judges weighed in on his act, David Walliams told him: “This is the perfect act for anyone who wants to watch someone drown. I was really worried for you when the paramedic came on.”
Skating fall
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In 2022, the Scooter Boys – Tyler, 10, Red, eight, TJ, eight and Austin, six, were keen to show off their impressive stunts performed with scooters and ramps on the stage.
While their act was initially impressive, it quickly turned sour when Austin took a nasty tumble. As his concerned group members looked on, it brought their performance to a screeching halt.
Austin went backstage to get checked out by a medical team and bravely rejoined the other boys.
Unfortunately, the boys suffered another mishap during their performance in other stages of the competition.
Life changing injury
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Britain’s Got Talent has had its fair share of escapologists, such as Jonathan Goodwin, who first appeared on the show in 2019.
He also appeared on the US version of the show America’s Got Talent: Extreme, where he suffered horrific life-changing injuries.
During rehearsals in 2021, he was meant to be upside down, thirty feet in the air, between two dangling cars, and escape a straitjacket.
Instead, when the cars burned, Jonathan was crushed in between them and hit the ground.
He suffered a dislocated spinal cord, which left him a paraplegic.
Jonathan – who is engaged to Amanda Abbington – also sustained internal organ injuries, lost his left kidney and had fractures to his legs, ribs, and shoulders, as well as third-degree burns.
In October, it was reported that Jonathan is suing America’s Got Talent, with his lawyers saying the production was “rushed” and “chaotic”.
Fiery act
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Throughout BGT’s history, many acts have incorporated fire into their routines, such as Bambas in series 12, who aimed to wow with his traditional Greek dances.
The ice cream man balanced a stack of glasses on his head, placing a burning napkin inside the top glass.
However, as the glasses fell to the ground, the napkin continued to burn.
This led host Declan Donelly to rush on stage to help extinguish the flame.
Houdini torture
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Andrew Basso, a former world champion escapologist and magician, decided to take on one of Harry Houdini’s most terrifying stunts, The Chinese Water Torture Cell, in 2022.
He was placed upside down in a glass tank filled with water and had to uncuff himself before being able to take a breath.
Before the stunt, he informed that if he was in the water longer than two minutes, he could suffer horrific injuries.
Andrew stayed in the water for two minutes and 30 seconds as he struggled to free himself, with the judges and hosts looking on nervously.
He finally managed to uncuff himself and was assisted out of the tank.
Fans later speculated whether the nailbiting moment was all a fix to add some drama to the show.
Audition scare
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In February this year, it was reported that Simon rushed backstage to check on a dancer who had a horrific fall during the auditions in Salford.
The performer is said to have collapsed in the wings, with show producers ushering in a medic to attend to him.
As Simon and fellow judge Bruno Tonioli went to make sure he was okay, Amanda and Alesha were left to entertain the audience.
A source told The Sun: “It was a real shock when it happened as the lad, who was in his early twenties, was obviously in agony.
“Unfortunately, the rest of the troupe were so focused, and there were so many of them, that they had completed the routine before they quite realised how badly injured he was.”
Britain’s Got Talent’s biggest ‘fix’ rows
Britain’s Got Talent has been plagued with ‘fix’ rows over the years. How many of these do you remember?
Jasmine Elcock – 2016: Teenage singer Jasmine Elcock stunned the nation with her version of Cher’s Believe. But it then transpired she had already performed professionally in London’s West End. Jasmine, 14, admitted: “I’ve performed in Annie in the West End at about the age of nine or 10, but I really get nervous.”
IrShad Shaikh – 2017: BGT fans were left questioning the rule book when IrShad Shaikh auditioned. He got four red buzzers from the judges, which would usually mean an instant dismissal. Yet in a strange turn of events, they let him continue with his act…and put him through to the next round.
Colin Thackery – 2019: Elderly war veteran Colin won BGT in 2019, but there was an outcry over the final. He warbled his place to win with a version of We’ll Meet Again but fans were furious that escapologist Jonathan Goodwin didn’t even rank in the top three. Viewers felt Jonathan – who almost suffocated while being buried alive in a gravel pit – should have won.
Axel Blake – 2022: Comedian Axel Blake was given a Golden Buzzer in 2022 after making the judges laugh. But fans were fuming when they discovered Axel already had a show on worldwide streaming platform Amazon Prime. Despite this, Axel still went on to win the series.
Loren Allred – 2022: The 2022 series of BGT was hit with another controversy when singer Loren Allred also received a Golden Buzzer. She performed Never Enough from the smash hit musical movie The Greatest Showman and got a standing ovation. It later transpired Loren was actually the original voice behind the track.
Taryn Charles – 2024: Singer Taryn Charles is one of this year’s hopefuls lucky enough to receive the Golden Buzzer. Bruno Tonilio put her straight through to the semi-finals following her performance of (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman by Aretha Franklin, but it has now come to light that she is no stranger to TV. Viewers recognised Taryn from an episode of ITV1’s Starstruck, where she impersonated Whitney Houston for judges Olly Murs, Sheridan Smith, Adam Lambert and Beverley Knight.