A SINGER who won Britain’s Got Talent and scooped the £100k prize soon saw his life unravel as he ran into financial difficulties.
Jai McDowall was over the moon when he took home the crown and the whopping cash prize on the fifth series of BGT back in 2011.
The Britain’s Got Talent winner was signed to Syco Music as well as performing at that year’s Royal Variety Performance.
But the poor sales of his debut album saw him dropped by the record label and things quickly took a turn for the worse.
Jai soon found himself on the brink of bankruptcy a few years after his famous win.
The 37-year-old singer exclusively told The Sun how he “made some bad choices” after the highs of winning which left him “cash poor”.
He said: “It came to a point where, on paper, you’re asset rich.
“But I was cash poor. That was pretty much me. I moved in with my parents at the time.
“I did have property but I had no money.
“That took a long time and a lot of grit and determination for me to get back out of that.”
Jai also touched upon how he tried to err on the side of caution after his win, choosing to have early nights to protect his voice instead of wild evenings out – but it wasn’t enough.
Jai added: “I’ve done OK. Twelve years on I’m still working.
“But there was definitely a period where it took a dramatic drop.
“Finances, work, all of that stuff took a very big dive to a point where I did actually think about bankruptcy.
“I didn’t do it because, thankfully, I’ve got a brilliant support network.
“But I did get to a point where I was like, ‘Is this it, is this over?’.”
Despite the highs of his big win 13 years ago, Jai admitted the concept of fame was “so hard to deal with”.
With the latest series of BGT in full swing, Jai added: “My experience of BGT was great. Afterwards, for the first year, obviously you get all the work and all the good things. And that’s when it starts to go south.
“I had about eight months and then Sony didn’t renew my one album deal and it’s still quite a difficult thing to deal with.
“I went from a normal guy who wasn’t in the industry, to then being on the telly.
“It created such a tumultuous time for me that I didn’t deal with it very well.”
Jai is now flying high again and has joined operatic quartet G4.
They released their new album, called 20, last month, and are currently on tour across the UK.
I did get to a point where I was like, ‘Is this it, is this over?’
Jai McDowall
Now in its 18th year, BGT is still one of the biggest shows on TV with 5.6million watching Saturday’s episode.
But Britain’s Got Talent was plunged into a fakes scandal after we revealed reports bosses secretly created acts from scratch.
Bosses were accused of conning fans after it emerged they concocted mystery performers The Witch for 2022 and last year’s scary Clown.
The Sun has seen scripts including lines attributed to the judges and musical suggestions.
The revelation will lead to speculation over the authenticity of the current series of BGT which is supposed to showcase hopeful punters and semi-professional acts.
Sources insist The Dark Hero — a Batman-themed act whose singing has wowed viewers — is the real deal but it is believed bosses may have developed others for this year’s auditions.
Britain's Got Talent's 2024 'fix rows' so far
Britain's Got Talent fans have been calling out the series online a lot this year after spotting 'fixes' with the contestants. Here are just some of the ones they've spotted so far...
- Opera singer Innocent Masuku is currently starring in Rossini’s The Barber of Seville at the London Coliseum.
- Bobby Finn, an amateur comedian from Massachusetts, is a TikTok star who already has 650,000 followers.
- Sydnie Christmas, who earned Amanda’s golden buzzer, has starred in Starlight Express in Bochum, Germany, and Lazarus at London’s King’s Cross Theatre.
- Geneviève Côté, who left viewers dumbstruck with her wildlife impersonations and singing, has appeared on THREE other Got Talents, even winning a golden buzzer from Howie Mandel in Canada.
- Harrison Pettman, aged 22, wowed the Britain’s Got Talent crowds with his singing voice, but has professionally trained at the Brits School, Bird Academy and Centre Stage Theatre Academy.
- Britain’s Got Talent bosses also concocted act The Witch from scratch to put before the judges this year.
