Series 15

BGT S15 — ITV's Official Press Release Photograph for Series 15.

Series 15 of Britain's Got Talent was aired in 2022, with the first episode being shown on Saturday 16th April. Ant & Dec returned as presenters, with Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden, Alesha Dixon and David Walliams returning on the Judging panel. This series was the first series since 2020, as the show did not air during 2021 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. This is the last series to feature David Walliams as in November 2022 it was leaked that he made rude comments about two contestants who competed on Series 14 during a break in taping for the show, which saw his future on the show become uncertain, before it was confirmed in 2023 that David would not be returning for the following series.^[1]^[2]^[3]

The sister show BGT: Unseen Bits was repurposed for Series 15 and rather than offering fifteen minute long extra auditions over an eight episode basis on the ITV Hub alongside Social Media and YouTube Exclusives, it just simply offered footage of the hosts backstage that was cut during the broadcast of episodes, and the hosts and judges playing games such as 'Who Said What' wherein they had to attribute quotes to what acts either they themselves or the judges had told acts following performances in previous series, alongside what acts they themselves or the judges said the quotes to following their performances.

The Series introduced a new segment known as 'Golden Moments', wherein people's families will surprise people who have not had the confidence to Apply for the show and nominate them to perform despite the fact that they never applied for the show, and following this the people nominated will have the time to rehearse their act before then having to perform in front of Ant & Dec, the judges and the live studio audience. Additionally, the Series introduced a new segment known as 'Judges Golden Moments', wherein the judges surprised people who have not had the confidence to Apply for the show and nominate them to perform despite the fact that they never applied for the show, and following this the people will have the time to rehearse their act before then having to perform in front of Ant & Dec, the judges and the live studio audience.

The series marks the first time since auditions episodes have been aired for two days in a row since Series 1 as the first episode of Series 15 aired on Saturday 16th April 2022, and the second episode of the Series aired on Sunday 17th April 2022, whereas Series 1 aired each of it's audition episodes over the course of a week, before then airing the Semi-Finals and the Final on the four following days. This series also marks the first ever time that a judge retracted a buzz for an act in the Semi-Finals (Simon Cowell for Matricks Illusions) following the performance of another act who partook within the same Semi-Final (Welsh of the West End). This series also marks the first time an act was buzzed off in the live shows and the first time that a magic act failed to advance onto the Final since Series 12. Additionally, this Series marks the return of the Wildcard act, following its absence in Series 14.

In terms of Voting Statistics this Series marks the first time that a Semi-Finalist who placed 2nd in the Public Vote failed to advance to the Final as they lost the judges vote (Keiichi Iwasaki) since Series 10 (Tumar KR).

Britain's Got Talent
Previous Series Series 14	Series 15	Next Series Series 16

Auditions[]

Main Article: Series 15 Auditions

The auditions for Series 15 were filmed between January and February in London.

Each act that performed in front of the judges was given 2 minutes to demonstrate their talents for the four judges. If an act received four buzzes then their performance is ended early. At least three "Yes" votes from the judges are required for an act to be accepted into the Next Round, otherwise, they are eliminated from the competition. Should one of the judges or Ant & Dec hit the Golden Buzzer for one of the acts, that act will be sent straight to the Semi-Finals.

Deliberation Day[]

The judges chose 35 acts to join the five Golden Buzzer acts in the Semi-Finals. For the first time ever in BGT history, Simon Cowell joined the deliberations via video link due to the fact that he were self isolating as he had contracted COVID-19.

Semi-Finals[]

40 acts from the auditions were chosen to perform in the Semi-Finals. For the first time ever, the Semi-Final acts were revealed as the Semi-Finals aired. Each of these 40 acts were from the main show due to the lack of a sister show.

Initially, Untelevised Act Evgeny Michkov advanced onto the Semi-Finals, however, he claims that he was forced to withdraw by producers due to his Russian Heritage, and due to the situation between Russia and The Ukraine.

The Semi-Finals were aired between the 30th May and the 3rd June, with the Final taking place on the 5th June.

Night 1[]

Main Article: Episode 1509

Name	Act	Result
Mel Day	Singer	Eliminated (6th)
Born To Perform	Dance Group	Eliminated (4th)
Suzi Wild	Impressionist	Eliminated (7th)
London Community Gospel Choir	Gospel Choir	Eliminated (8th)
The Witches	Horror Magician	Eliminated (5th)
Jamie Leahey	Singer / Ventriloquist	Moved On (JC) (2nd)
Junwoo Park	Magician	Eliminated (JC) (3rd)
Maxwell Thorpe	Opera Singer	Moved On

Night 2[]

Main Article: Episode 1510

Name	Act	Result
Amber & The Dancing Collies	Dog Act	Wildcard (2nd)
Voices Of Armed Forces Children’s Choir	Choir	Eliminated (5th)
Ryland Petty	Magician	ElIminated (4th)
Dante Marvin	Comedic Singer	Eliminated (6th)
Flintz & T4ylor	Pianist / Rapper	Moved On (JC) (3rd)
Ranger Chris Roberts	Dance Group / Variety Act	Eliminated (7th)
Ben Nickless	Comedic Impressionist / Singer	Moved On
Andrew Basso	Escapologist	Eliminated (8th)

Night 3[]

Main Article: Episode 1511

Name	Act	Result
Les Sancho	Dance Group	ElIminated (8th)
Immi Davis	Singer	Eliminated (4th)
The Freaks	Acrobatic Group	Eliminated (5th)
Dane Bates Collective	Dance Group	ElIminated (6th)
Eva Abley	Comedian	Moved On (JC) (3rd)
The Dots	Comedy Group / Vocal Trio	Eliminated (7th)
Keiichi Iwasaki	Magician	Eliminated (JC)(2nd)
Tom Ball	Singer	Moved On

Night 4[]

Main Article: Episode 1512

Name	Act	Result
Dame Nation	Variety Act	Eliminated (8th)
5 Star Boys	Ballet Dance Group	Moved On (JC) (2nd)
The Frontline Singers	Choir	Eliminated (4th)
Mary P	Mary Poppins Impersonator	Eliminated (5th)
The Phantom	Horror Magician	Eliminated (JC) (3rd)
Stefano Paolini	Comedian	Eliminated (7th)
Titan The Robot	Variety Act	Eliminated (6th)
Loren Allred	Singer	Moved On

Note: Simon retracted his buzz for Dame Nation during the comments.

Night 5[]

Main Article: Episode 1513

Name	Act	Result
Matricks Illusions	Magicians / Quick Change Artists	Eliminated (8th)
The Scooter Boys	Variety Act	Eliminated (4th)
Welsh of the West End	Choir	Eliminated (JC) (3rd)
Aneeshwar Kunchala	Poet	Moved On (JC) (2nd)
Brian and Krysstal	Comedy / Singing Duo	Eliminated (7th)
IMD Legion	Street Dance Group	Eliminated (6th)
Nick Edwards	Singer / Guitarist	Eliminated (5th)
Axel Blake	Comedian	Moved On

Note: Simon retracted his buzz for Matricks Illusions following the performance of Welsh of the West End.

Grand Final[]

Main Article: Episode 1514

Name	Act	Result
Jamie Leahey	Ventriloquist / Singer	2nd Place
Amber & The Dancing Collies	Dog Act	10th place
5 Star Boys	Dance Group	11th place
Flintz & T4ylor	Pianist / Rapper	6th place
Aneeshwar Kunchala	Poet	7th place
Eva Abley	Comedian	5th place
Tom Ball	Singer	3rd Place
Ben Nickless	Comedic Impressionist / Singer	8th place
Loren Allred	Singer	9th Place
Axel Blake	Comedian	Winner
Maxwell Thorpe	Singer	4th Place

[1] The Guardian - David Walliams recorded making derogatory remarks about BGT contestants

[2] Digital Spy - Britain's Got Talent confirms David Walliams' future on the show is "up in the air"

[3] ITV News - Bruno Tonioli to replace David Walliams as Britain Got Talent judge

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