‘DAVID’S STILL REALLY NAUGHTY’
TV // SOAPS // FILM // MUSIC // BOOKS // FOOD
What was your main
ambition this series?
I wanted it to feel more
like it did when we first
started, to bring it back
to the Paul Potts, Connie
Talbots, you know?
Looking at the talent
this year, who should
fans be keeping an
eye out for?
The kids have taken
over the show this year.
We’ve had so many
amazing and talented
kids come on the stage
and I love that. It’s a
different energy when
it’s children up there,
it feels more fun!
Since the last series of
BGT, Alesha joined you in
America to work on AGT: The
Champions. What was it like
working with her stateside?
I think it was a really positive
experience for her and shedid an amazing job on
Champions. This will open
doors for her in America.
Alesha and I have a really
strong bond which means
we will be doing a lot more
together in the future.What’s the first thing that
goes through your mind
when you wake up on
audition day?
Ant: What time will Simon
Cowell get there today?! The
second thing is just thinking
about what we’ll get to see.
We have no idea who’s going
to walk around the corner,
what they are going to do,
good, bad or indifferent.
How has Simon’s
timekeeping been
this series?
Dec: We’re used to it. As longas you’re used to it, it doesn’t
come as a surprise!
The judges seem on good
form, though apparently
David hasn’t been quite as
naughty this year...
Ant: He’s still outrageous!
Dec: He’s still being quite
mischievous.
Ant: Simon got David up
on stage so they could
both have knives thrown
at them...
Dec: He’s got a real
fascination with
dangerous acts.He seems obsessed with
novelty acts right now!
Ant: It’s all about [Simon’s
son] Eric and what he would
like. Everything he sees that
he would have buzzed off in
years gone by, now he’s like,
“My son would love that.”
This year we have a
keyboard-playing dinosaur.
What?! If a keyboard even
came out a few years ago
he would have buzzed them
straight away, but now it’s a
dinosaur playing a keyboard
and it’s a yes from him!‘ ALESHA
AND I HAVE
A STRONG
BOND’
You’ve been a
judge on every
series – surely you
must have seen
everything possible
by now?
That’s what I always
think and then
someone surprises
me! There have
been a few random
acts this year,
like we had this
incredible unicyclist,
and then a scientist
who set fire to a
load of balls as part
of a live experiment!
Simon looks pretty
different this time
around – everyone’s
obsessed with his
weight loss!
He looks amazing! He’s told me
about the foods he’s been cutting
out and how it made such a
difference in just two weeks.
So I feel happy for him. And I’m
hoping that means he gets back
to being more evil, because I think
he’s gone a bit soft. Now he’s
back to his slimmer self, I think
he’s going to go back to being Mr
Nasty. Which I’m really prayingfor, because that’s who I love.
I love evil Simon best of all!
Has he stuck to his diet even
during auditions when there are
so many treats around?
He has! I used to love having our
dinners together. We’d have fish
and chips or beans on toast,
things like that. But this new
healthy eating is working for him
because he’s got a spring in his
step, he’s got his mojo back!‘SIMON’S
GONE SOFT!’
SIMON
AMANDA
ANT & DEC