Kate and Gin

Kate Nicholas and Gin are a dog act who made it to the second round in Series 1 & the Final of Series 2 of Britain's Got Talent. Kate was a sixteen year old college student at the time of the duo's second audition.

Series 1

Nicholas' Series 1 card.

The duo impressed the judges with their performance & advanced onto the following round, however failed to reach the Semi-Finals. Their performance was never televised, however they were seen in the second round on a card that the judges used whilst deliberating. In Series 1, the pair were known as Kate Nicholas and Gin.

Series 2

In their audition, Kate claimed to practice 'canine freestyle'. They performed to Moby's version of the James Bond theme. The act began with Gin walking backwards round Kate's leg. Kate then walked across the stage, and Gin rolled beside her. Gin then stood up and began walking backwards across the stage. Gin then repeatedly walked through Kate's crossed legs, before jumping over a pole. Amanda remarked 'He's the most talented animal I think I've ever seen', with Piers adding 'I think we're going to have to consider the prospect of a dog and human possibly winning [BGT]'.

In the Semi-Finals, they performed to 'I Don't Feel Like Dancin' by the Scissor Sisters. The act began with Gin walking through Kate's crossed legs, and then jumping over her raised leg. Gin then continued to walk through Kate's legs, before rolling at her feet. After this, Gin scaled Kate's waist, before walking on her hind legs at the side of Kate. After this, Gin again jumped over Kate, before standing back to back with her. Amanda remarked 'You can tell she's really really loving her job', with Simon adding 'Forget about the most talented dog [she's] one of the most talented performers in the world'. The duo won the Judges Vote with two votes from Simon & Amanda, whereas Piers voted for Dean Wilson, thus seeing the duo advance onto the Final.

In the Final, they again performed to the James Bond theme. The act began with Kate having Gin walk around a cane before following her around the stage. Kate then had Gin walk her hind legs, before manoeuvring beneath her leg. Kate then had Gin jump over a cane that she held, before walking behind her whilst stood on her hind legs. Piers remarked 'I think we now have a unique situation for [BGT], it is the animal world laying down a marker for the humans [which reads] beat that', with Simon adding 'What we saw tonight was totally unique [and] it wouldn't be the first time we've had a dog at the Royal Variety'.

After BGT

Hoping for a career in film, Kate and Gin signed with an agent. They received many offers to perform at events and entered into talks about appearing on television adverts, including offers from Carlsberg for a "best kennel in the world" advertising campaign. This led to appearances around England and in Wales. These have included public shows and sponsored events. On 6th October 2008, a book about the pair, entitled Kate and Gin, was released by HarperCollins. Television appearances after the book deal included on Alan Carr's Celebrity Ding Dong and Gordon Ramsay: Cookalong Live, alongside BGT judge Amanda Holden.

Kate also gave up her course in animal management to instead focus on a career in pantomime. Both Kate and Gin appeared in a performance of Peter Pan at the Theatre Royal, Windsor and since then Kate has been training a new dog, a Border Collie named Ice. Kate, Gin and Ice appeared on the Trisha show on 26th May 2009.

In 2011, after several years of pantomime and other performances, Kate joined the Royal Army Veterinary Corps in the puppy development section, based at the Defence Animal Centre and went on an operational tour as a Military working dog handler in Afghanistan. After which Gin retired from performing to live in the family home, but handed over the reins to Ice.