BRITAIN’S Got Talent fans have demanded a shake-up to the voting system after another dramatic deadlock put the public in charge.
Last night’s semi-final saw Sydnie Christmas sail through to Sunday’s grand finale having secured the majority of the vote.
Dancer Leightonjay Halliday and singing impressionist Mike Woodhams were left to fight it out for the second spot.
Ant and Dec turned to the judges for a decision, but Simon opted to send the process into a deadlock – placing the final call in the hands of the viewers.
Based on the public vote, Leightonjay was sent packing while Mike snagged a spot in the final.
However, fans have now called for a ‘secret’ voting system to avoid future deadlocks.
Taking to X, formerly Twitter, viewers expressed their frustration over the judges’ indecisiveness.
One user said: “They should make the judges vote by secret ballot to avoid them copping out to the public vote.”
A second echoed: “What’s the point of having a judges choice, when all they do is send it to deadlock? It’s useless and unfair!”
A third added: “An absolute joke of a result!”
Some viewers even suggested that Simon and Alesha Dixon deliberately voted for Mike to cause a deadlock and avoid making any difficult decisions themselves.
“Pathetic of Simon and Alesha,” one fan ranted.
“How are people not seeing how [bleep] Mike Woodhams is. He didn’t deserve a final place, it’s just bad, bad, bad judging,” another said.
It comes after viewers branded last night’s semi-final as the “worst ever”.
Twitter seemed united in their thoughts that the quality across the board was the weakest of all the nights.
“Arguably the worst episode of bgt in tv history. Absolutely pants,” one soapboxed.
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.