The thirteenth series of British talent competition programme Britain's Got Talent was broadcast on ITV, from 6 April to 2 June 2019. This series became the first to see the return of Ant McPartlin to his television duties, hosting alongside Dec Donnelly (colloquially forming the hosting duo known as Ant & Dec), following his absence the previous year to attend rehabilitation prior to the start of the previous series' live episodes. Alongside McPartlin's return, the competition for this year saw the oldest participant to win Britain's Got Talent, and the surprise return of a performer who participated in a previous year's contest, operating under an alias until their final appearance.
The thirteenth series was won by 89-year-old singer Colin Thackery, with mentalist Marc Spelmann (under the stage name "X") finishing in second place and magician Ben Hart third. During its broadcast, the series averaged 8.32 million viewers.
Series overview The judges' auditions took place between January and February 2019, within London and Manchester. During filming of the London auditions, the event was kick-started by a special performance from Susan Boyle to mark her 10th year as a singer since she first made her appearance on Britain's Got Talents third series. One of the most notable auditionees for this year's contest was David J. Watson – a participant who had auditioned for 10 years for a place on the programme without success. His latest attempt led to the host of Britain's Got More Talent, Stephen Mulhern, triggering a Golden Buzzer for him. This action led to speculation in the media over whether this had been officially allowed, but it was later revealed to have been disallowed on the grounds that it did not fall under the contest rules, as Mulhern had no official allowance to provide a Golden Buzzer act.
This series featured two notable events during its broadcast. The first to take place was the forced withdrawal of an act – extreme magicians Brotherhood – who had secured a spot in the semi-finals. Despite Brotherhood's success in the auditions landing them a place in the fifth and final semi-final, concerns over health and safety were raised about the dangerous nature of their performance, leading to the group of magicians withdrawing their involvement at the request of the production staff and broadcaster, and their place being offered to another act which had been eliminated during auditions. Additionally, a dance troupe who had made it to the semi final stage also withdrew following the death of one of their members. The group's audition was not broadcast. The second was the surprise revelation that a participant who had operated under anonymity was in reality a former semi-finalist from the previous year's contest who had re-entered the contest for this year in order to emphasise the values of hope and perseverance.
Of the participants that took part, only 40 made it into the five live semi-finals – of these acts, dancer Akshat Singh, band Chapter 13, choir Flakefleet Primary School, singer Giorgia Borg, and stand-up comedian Kojo Anim each received a golden buzzer during their auditions – with eight appearing in each one, and eleven of these acts making it into the live final; the wildcard act chosen by the judges was dance duo Libby & Charlie, after they lost out in a tied judges' vote in the last semi-final round. The following below lists the results of each participant's overall performance in this series:
Judges' Wildcard Finalist | Golden Buzzer Audition
ParticipantAge(s) GenreActSemi-finalResult 4MG 17–19 Magic Magic Group 2 Akshat Singh 13 Dance Dancer 1 Angels Inc. 23–28 Magic Magic Group 3 Barbara Nice 65 Comedy Stand Up Comedian 5 Ben Hart 28 Magic Magician 4 Third Place Brian Gilligan 32 Singing Singer 1 Chapter 13 14–15 Singing / Music Band 3 Colin Thackery 89 Singing Singer 3 Dave & Finn 42 & 9 Animals / Magic Mentalist & Dog Handler 1 Duo A&J 28 & 26 Acrobatics Aerial Duo 4 Fabulous Sisters 12–26 Dance Japanese Dance Group 5 Faith Tucker 18 Singing Opera Singer 2 Flakefleet Primary School 4–11 Singing Choir 1 Giorgia Borg 10 Singing Singer 2 Gomonov Knife Show 25 & 36 Danger Knife Throwing Duo 3 Gonzo 33 Music Tambourinist 5 Graeme Mathews 34 Comedy / Magic Comic Magician 4 Jacob Jones 27 Singing Singer 5 Jimmy Tamley 64 Comedy Ventriloquist 4 John Archer 58 Comedy / Magic Comic Magician 3 Jonathan Goodwin 39 Danger Escape Artist 5 Kerr James 12 Singing Singer 4 Khronos Girls 15–18 Dance Contemporary Dance Group 1 KNE 22–35 Dance Dance Group 3 Kojo Anim 39 Comedy Stand Up Comedian 3 Leanne Mya 31 Singing Singer 5 Libby & Charlie 11 Dance Contemporary Dance Duo 5 Lil' Icons 7–18 Dance Dance Group 4 Mark McMullan 23 Singing Singer 4 Matt Stirling 46 Danger / Magic Stunt Magician 2 Rob King 28 Singing Musical Theatre Singer 3 Rosie & Adam 21 & 38 Danger Rollerskating Duo 1 Siobhan Phillips 42 Comedy / Singing / Music Comic Singer & Pianist 2 State of the Fart 26 Music Manualist 2 The Haunting 38 Magic Horror Magician 1 The Queen 92 Comedy Drag Comedian 2 Tony Rudd 58 Comedy Impressionist 1 Ursula Burns 48 Comedy / Singing / Music Comic Harpist & Singer 4 Vardanyan Brothers 28 & 30 Acrobatics Acrobatic Duo 2 X 47 Magic Magician 5
Ages denoted for a participant(s), pertain to their final performance for this series. These acts originally auditioned under different names, before changing them for their Semi-Final appearances. These participants each required their coach to act as translator, due to their limited or lack of knowledge on the English language. Libby & Charlie initially failed to reach the semi-finals, but were later brought back after magic trio Brotherhood were forced to withdraw at the advice of production staff and the broadcaster. Details on both the locations for and ages of each member of The Haunting were not disclosed during their time on the programme. This participant's actual age was not officially disclosed as such during their time on the programme. The age listed here is Queen Elizabeth II's age as of the live shows, listed as a joke in keeping with the gimmick of the act, and not the actual age of the performer, who was actually 62. Marc Spelmann's identity was kept a secret by production staff throughout the series - all details listed here pertain to his unveiling in the final.
Semi-finals summary Buzzed out | Judges' vote |
Semi-final 1 (27 May) Guest performance: Cast Of On Your Feet! & Gloria Estefan ("Rhythm Is Gonna Get You"/"Conga"/"Get on Your Feet") Semi-Finalist OrderPerformance TypeBuzzes and judges' votesPercentageFinished Akshat Singh 1Dancer3.6% 7th - Eliminated Tony Rudd 2Impressionist 5.6% 6th - Eliminated Brian Gilligan 3Singer 3.4% 8th - Eliminated The Haunting 4Horror Magician13.4% 3rd (Lost Judges' Vote) Flakefleet Primary School 5Choir25.6% 2nd (Won Judges' Vote) Khronos Girls 6Contemporary Dance Group6.8% 5th - Eliminated Dave & Finn 7Mentalist & Dog Handler29.2% 1st (Won Public Vote) Rosie & Adam 8Rollerskating Duo 12.4% 4th - Eliminated
Semi-final 2 (28 May) Guest performance: Cast of Six ("Ex-Wives") Semi-FinalistOrderPerformance TypeBuzzes and judges' votesPercentageFinished The Queen 1Drag Comedian 4.0% 8th - Eliminated State of the Fart 2Manulist 5.5% 7th - Eliminated Vardanyan Brothers 3Acrobatic Duo 8.9% 6th - Eliminated Giorgia Borg 4Singer 11.3% 5th - Eliminated Matt Stirling 5Stunt Magician 14.9% 3rd (Lost Judges' Vote) Siobhan Phillips 6Comic Singer & Pianist15.9% 2nd (Won Judges' Vote) 4MG 7Magic Group 28.2% 1st (Won Public Vote) Faith Tucker 8Opera Singer 11.3% 4th - Eliminated
Semi-final 3 (29 May) Guest performance: James Arthur & Freckled Sky ("Falling Like the Stars")
Semi-FinalistOrderPerformance TypeBuzzes and judges' votesPercentageFinished Angels Inc. 1Illusion Group4.2% 5th - Eliminated Rob King 2Musical Theatre Singer 3.3% 6th - Eliminated KNE 3Dance Group 1.3% 8th - Eliminated John Archer 4Comic Magician19.0% 3rd (Lost Judges' Vote) Gomonov Knife Show 5Knife Throwing Duo2.6% 7th - Eliminated Colin Thackery 6Singer29.1% 1st (Won Public Vote) Kojo Anim 7Stand Up Comedian23.9% 2nd (Won Judges' Vote) Chapter 13 8Band16.6% 4th - Eliminated
Due to the majority vote for Kojo Anim, Walliams' voting intention was not revealed.
Semi-final 4 (30 May) Guest performance: BTS ("Boy with Luv")
Semi-FinalistOrderPerformance TypeBuzzes and judges' votesPercentageFinished Lil' Icons 1Dance Group9.3% 5th - Eliminated Ursula Burns 2Comic Singer & Harpist0.6% 8th - Eliminated Kerr James 3Singer11.3% 4th - Eliminated Graeme Mathews 4Comic Magician12.5% 3rd (Judges' Vote tied – Lost on Public Vote) Duo A&J 5Aerial Duo6.6% 6th - Eliminated Jimmy Tamley 6Ventriloquist5.7% 7th - Eliminated Ben Hart 7Magician28.6% 1st (Won Public Vote) Mark McMullan 8Singer25.4% 2nd (Judges' Vote tied – Won on Public Vote)
Semi-final 5 (31 May) Guest performance: Jason Donovan, Sheridan Smith & Cast Of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat ("Jacob and Sons/Joseph's Coat"/"Any Dream Will Do"/"Song of the King"/"Go, Go, Go Joseph")
Semi-FinalistOrderPerformance TypeBuzzes and judges' votesPercentageFinished Gonzo 1Tambourinist7.4% 6th - Eliminated X 2Mentalist27.4% 1st (Won Public Vote) Jacob Jones 3Singer2.3% 7th - Eliminated Fabulous Sisters 4Japanese Dance Group1.1% 8th - Eliminated Leanne Mya 5Singer8.7% 5th - Eliminated Barbara Nice 6Stand Up Comedian14.1% 4th - Eliminated Libby & Charlie 7Contemporary Dance Duo17.0% 3rd (Judges' Vote tied – Lost on Public Vote) Jonathan Goodwin 8Escape Artist22.0% 2nd (Judges' Vote tied – Won on Public Vote)
Libby & Charlie were later sent through to the final as the judges' wildcard.
Final (2 June) Guest performances: Diversity & DVJ and Susan Boyle & Michael Ball ("A Million Dreams")
Finalist Order Performance Type Percentage Finished Dave & Finn 1Mentalist & Dog Handler9.1% 5th Flakefleet Primary School 2Choir8.8% 6th Ben Hart 3Magician10.2% 3rd Libby & Charlie 4Contemporary Dance Duo3.9% 10th 4MG 5Magic Group2.3% 11th Mark McMullan 6Singer4.6% 7th Jonathan Goodwin 7Escape Artist4.4% 8th Siobhan Phillips 8Comic Singer & Pianist4.0% 9th X 9Mentalist17.8% 2nd Kojo Anim 10Stand Up Comedian9.6% 4th Colin Thackery 11Singer25.3% 1st
Ratings
Episode Air date Total viewers (millions) ITVWeekly rank Auditions 1 10.30 1 Auditions 2 10.12 1 Auditions 3 9.13 1 Auditions 4 9.78 1 Auditions 5 9.66 1 Auditions 6 9.39 1 Auditions 7 8.53 1 Auditions 8 8.04 1 Semi-final 1 8.69 2 Semi-final 1 results 6.68 12 Semi-final 2 7.64 4 Semi-final 2 results 6.12 17 Semi-final 3 7.70 3 Semi-final 3 results 5.59 20 Semi-final 4 7.26 6 Semi-final 4 results 5.58 21 Semi-final 5 7.03 10 Semi-final 5 results 5.92 18 Final 9.73 1
References