VIEWERS were left rolling their eyes at Britain’s Got Talent tonight after Bruno Tonioli appeared to be completely aware he was going to be pulled up on stage.
The Italian judge acted shocked when a pair of aerial roller skaters used him as a guinea pig in their act.
Ukrainian performers Vlada Kamyshnikova and Yevhenii Yemelianenko requested that Bruno be brought up on stage at the end of their performance.
They then hoisted him up into a slingshot contraption and spun him around in circles while keeping him perfectly balanced.
Although the panel member did look terrified, eagle-eyed viewers spotted a clue that he knew he was going to be involved in the act.
Bruno had been wearing a white jacket for the majority of the semi-finals, but took it off in time for the moment of audience participation.
BGT fans blasted the ‘fix’, with one saying: “Like Bruno didn’t know that would happen.”
Another moaned: “Another set up.. I bet Bruno has been in rehearsal all day.”
A third disgruntled viewer called the aerial act “boring”, adding: “Yeah right, like Bruno had no idea.”
A fourth added: “Bruno pretending he didn’t know that was gonna happen when he already had his jacket off.”
Someone who saw the funny side of it joked: “Bruno was so not expecting that he’d taken off his white jacket in preparation.”
Despite the complaints, the married roller-skaters received a rapturous round of applause from the live audience tonight.
Ahead of their performance, Yevhenii said: “This stage inspired us. Billy and Emily inspired us.
“This performance made such a big impact on us, so we decided to start our rollerskating journey.”
Stardust received a golden buzzer from Simon Cowell himself after their previous death-defying performance.
The act almost ended in a tragedy when Vlada flung on a trampoline towards her husband Yevhenii.
Britain's Got Talent's biggest 'fix' rows
Britain's Got Talent has been plagued with 'fix' rows over the years. How many of these do you remember?
Jasmine Elcock – 2016: Teenage singer Jasmine Elcock stunned the nation with her version of Cher’s Believe. But it then transpired she had already performed professionally in London’s West End. Jasmine, 14, admitted: “I’ve performed in Annie in the West End at about the age of nine or 10, but I really get nervous.”
IrShad Shaikh – 2017: BGT fans were left questioning the rule book when IrShad Shaikh auditioned. He got four red buzzers from the judges, which would usually mean an instant dismissal. Yet in a strange turn of events, they let him continue with his act…and put him through to the next round.
Colin Thackery – 2019: Elderly war veteran Colin won BGT in 2019, but there was an outcry over the final. He warbled his place to win with a version of We’ll Meet Again but fans were furious that escapologist Jonathan Goodwin didn’t even rank in the top three. Viewers felt Jonathan – who almost suffocated while being buried alive in a gravel pit – should have won.
Axel Blake – 2022: Comedian Axel Blake was given a Golden Buzzer in 2022 after making the judges laugh. But fans were fuming when they discovered Axel already had a show on worldwide streaming platform Amazon Prime. Despite this, Axel still went on to win the series.
Loren Allred – 2022: The 2022 series of BGT was hit with another controversy when singer Loren Allred also received a Golden Buzzer. She performed Never Enough from the smash hit musical movie The Greatest Showman and got a standing ovation. It later transpired Loren was actually the original voice behind the track.
Taryn Charles – 2024: Singer Taryn Charles is one of this year’s hopefuls lucky enough to receive the Golden Buzzer. Bruno Tonilio put her straight through to the semi-finals following her performance of (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman by Aretha Franklin, but it has now come to light that she is no stranger to TV. Viewers recognised Taryn from an episode of ITV1’s Starstruck, where she impersonated Whitney Houston for judges Olly Murs, Sheridan Smith, Adam Lambert and Beverley Knight.
She almost missed him, but was able to attach herself to his neck.
He then launched them both into the air and they flung around at high speed.
During the performance, Vlada’s roller skates sparked as she spun in the air.
The judges and audience were left speechless and gave them a standing ovation.