Britain’s Got Talent receives Ofcom complaints over ‘revolting’ and 'disgusting' act

The show returned last Saturday for it’s 17th year, but one of the auditions has sparked complaints
Lisa McLoughlin 25 April 2024
The Weekender

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Britain’s Got Talent's recent episode has sparked numerous Ofcom complaints following a particularly unique audition.

Kimberly Winter's unconventional performance saw her stand before the ITV show’s judges, Amanda Holden, Alesha Dixon, Simon Cowell, and Bruno Tonioli, and proceeded to burp the song The Winner Takes It All by ABBA.

The American-based performer stunned both the audience and the panel when, instead of singing along to the background music, she burped it.

Dixon, 45, expressed immediate disapproval by getting out of her seat, while Holden, 53, reacted by covering her face with her hands.

Surprisingly, music mogul Cowell, 64, who is typically hard to impress, found the whole situation amusing and began laughing while hosts Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly, both 48, responded by pretending to be nauseous.

ITV

At different moments during the performance, the camera captured the audience's shocked reactions to what they were witnessing but it wasn’t long before Dixon and fellow judge Bruno Tonioli pressed the red buzzer to signal the end of her act.

Despite two of the judges disapproval, Winter won-over the audience while Holden then began to join in on the belching and Cowell said, “It was so stupid, it was brilliant.”

Although Tonioli was initially skeptical, he ultimately had a change of heart and voted "yes" letting her advance her to the next round.

Despite winning the crowd over at the audition, some viewers at home didn’t feel quite the same and now the media watchdog confirmed to The Standard that the performance received 54 Ofcom complaints.

Meanwhile, divided BGT fans took to X, formerly Twitter, to share their thoughts on the contestant, with one branding the performance “revolting”.

Britain’s Got Talent judges Bruno Tonioli, Alesha Dixon, Amanda Holden, and Simon Cowell (Aaron Chown/PA)
PA Wire

One penned: “I can’t burp on command. Plus it’s just revolting.”

“What was the burp performance even about? Like what was she trying to achieve? It was just utterly disgusting!” another penned.

However, one supportive viewer remarked: “Imagine the look on the Queen Consort’s face when Kimberly busts out a burp rendition of Waterloo.

“Forget the Golden Buzzer, she deserves a knighthood.”

Notably, the winner of Britain’s Got Talent is given £250,000 cash and a spot on the bill of the Royal Variety Performance.

Britain’s Got Talent continues on Saturday, April 27 at 7.30pm on ITV1 and ITVX