Lucy Heath is a dog trainer from Brantham, Lincolnshire who auditioned for Britain's Got Talent in both Series 9, Series 10, and Series 17, yet with different dogs on all three occasions. In Series 9, Lucy auditioned with Indie yet failed to reach the Semi-Finals.
In Series 10 she auditioned with Trip Hazard and the pair ultimately placed 7th and in Series 17 she auditioned with an assortment of dogs which included Strike, Tempo, Peach and Trip Hazard and they placed 5th. Lucy was aged 38 and Strike was aged 5 at the time of her third performance and placed 5th overall.
Series 9[]
Lucy and Indie
Lucy first auditioned for Britain's Got Talent in Series 9, with a dog named Indie.
In their audition, they performed a routine to 'Let It Go' by Idina Menzel; the act consisted of a sequence of tricks, including a mini Conga-line, and concluded with Indie sat on Lucy's head. David commented 'It's so charming to watch an animal that's been so beautifully trained', with Simon jokingly adding 'I would've dressed [the dog] like a snowman'. They advanced onto the following, however they failed to reach the Semi-Finals.
Series 10[]
Lucy and Trip Hazard are a dog act that reached the Final of Britain's Got Talent in Series 10. Before their audition, Lucy said that she had auditioned last year with her dog Indie, however she was 'Quite sensitive, whereas Trip is a bit of a crowd pleaser'. Before she performed, Simon joked 'There's only one of them, right?' as a reference to the controversy surrounding the previous year's winner Jules O'Dwyer and Matisse.
In their audition, Trip performed a number of tricks with Lucy to the track 'Candyman' by Christina Aguilera. David remarked 'It was like watching all the Disney films all at once', with Simon adding 'I can imagine little Trips in toy shops all over the world'.
In the Semi-Final, Lucy was dressed as a waiter, and the pair performed to 'Be Our Guest', alongside an array of moving cutlery. Alesha commented 'You make it look so easy', whilst Amanda described it as 'Absolutely perfect'. The duo reached the judge’s vote, where they received one vote from David whilst the others voted for Jasmine Elcock, therefore sending them home. In the Public Wildcard vote, the pair placed 1st in the vote, therefore reinstating them into the Final.
In the Final, Lucy was dressed as Supergirl, and the pair took part in a role-play in which they arrested a robber. Simon commented 'I've never seen a dog do what he just did', whilst David added 'This is going to appeal to everyone from 8 to 80'. They finished 7th in the public vote.
Series 17[]
Lucy returned to the show for the seventeenth series as "The Trickstars" which was an act that included Strike, Tempo, Peach & Trip Hazard. Before her performance, Lucy explained that she wanted to have another go on the show in order to see how far she could get as this time she aspired to win the show. She also stated that she had become a mother and had a three-year-old son named Ethan, alongside how she wanted to show him that he could follow his dreams and his passion.
In their audition, Lucy initially performed simplistic dog tricks to 'Friend Like Me' from Aladdin, before slowly making them more complex with as two more dogs and Trip Hazard came onto the stage and performed synchronised spinning. Their performance culminated with Trip Hazard sitting on both Lucy and Strike's backs before the pair walked behind Lucy on their hind legs. Alesha commented 'The fact that you've decided to come back on the show and audition tells me a lot about you and your competitive spirit', with Simon adding 'I've never seen an act like this, it was like the big dogs were training the little dogs [and] it was incredible'.
In the Semi-Finals, Lucy was dressed as a female version of Willy Wonka and the group partook in a role-play in which each of the dogs toured the factory to ‘Pure Imagination’ by Gene Wilder. The performance culminated with Lucy and Peach giving Simon a Golden Ticket. Bruno remarked ‘They coped with all of the machinery and the extras coming in beautifully’, with Amanda adding ‘It is absolutely genius [and] you really are the Golden Ticket’. They reached the Judges Vote, however failed to reach the Final as each of the judges voted for Ssaulabi Performance Troupe, however they were reinstated as the Wildcard.
In the Final, Lucy was dressed as a female version of PT Barnum before changing into the attire of a Circus performer herself and the group partook in a role-play in which each of the dogs performed circus style tricks to ‘The Greatest Show’ from The Greatest Showman. Alesha commented ‘I genuinely never thought that we could see an act that could beat Ashleigh and Pudsey and I think you have’, with Simon adding ‘This was everything a Final performance should be and when it mattered you delivered’.
Before BGT[]
In 2012, Lucy had appeared on That Dog Can Dance hosted by Christine Bleakley with Indie.
After BGT[]
In December 2016, Lucy and Trip Hazard performed in the pantomime 'Cinderella' in the Echo Arena, Liverpool as the Fairy Mother and Fairy 'Dog Father'.
In April 2017, Lucy and Trip appeared in the AO.com adverts before and after the advert breaks on Series 11.
In 2021, Trip was the dog used in ITV's 'Drama Vs Reality' Ident which featured Olivia Atwood, her partner Bradley Dack & Anna Friel. Additionally, in 2021, Lucy trained several cats for the Benedict Cumberbatch film 'The Electrical Life of Louis Wain'.
Between 2021 & 2022, Lucy trained several Pomeranian dogs in obedience before said dogs appeared in both Seasons 1 & 2 of the Netflix series 'Bridgerton' as Queen Charlotte's Pomeranians. Within this time Trip also had bit parts in Apple TV's 'Ted Lasso', and Amazon Prime series 'Pennyworth'.
In 2022, Lucy appeared alongside her collie Strike on ITV's 'The Secret Life Of Our Pets'.[1]
Trivia[]
- Lucy is the highest placing act to have auditioned on BGT and reached the Final after having their first audition televised on the sister show and being cut the first time during the deliberations.
- Despite Lucy & Trip Hazard being known by the name stated in every performance during Series 10 the pairs card in the deliberations but read 'Trip Hazard'.
- They’re the Highest placing public wildcard.
- They’re currently the only ever act to acquire both the Public Wildcard and the Judges Wildcard.
- They’re the highest placing judges wildcard act since 4th place finalist Steve Hewlett in Series 7, placing 5th overall in the Final.
- The group hold the record for the second lowest gap of votes between a second and third placed act who performed with a Semi-Final as such a gap never existed as both Ssaulabi Performance Troupe & The Trickstars received 19.6% of the Public Vote. It is unknown how a situation wherein a split vote occurred would have been resolved but it would likely go to the exact number of public votes received.[2]
- This in turn broke the record that was set nine years prior in Series 9 by The Neales and Boyband both having 17.6% of the Public Vote. Ironically this time, Ant & Dec’s Golden Buzzer were not selected to advance onto the Final by the Judges however they were re-instated as the Wildcard yet the lower than the act who did not acquire the Wildcard.[3]