IT’S the show that’s brought us some of the biggest names in entertainment – from Diversity to George Sampson and Pudsey the Dog.
But many of the most famous stars from Britain’s Got Talent not only didn’t win but didn’t even come close.
Simon Cowell and his fellow judges didn’t see the potential in people who’ve gone on to become more rich and famous than any of the winners.
Britain’s Got Talent will be returning to ITV for its 17th series tonight, with Simon joined by Amanda Holden, Alesha Dixon and Bruno Tonioli, along with hosts Ant and Dec.
As the panel get set to look for their winner, we look at some of the show’s rejects who ended up becoming megastars without the show’s backing.
Lewis Capaldi
He’s now a global superstar worth £5 million, thanks to both of his albums topping the charts and going platinum around the world – plus a hit Netflix documentary, How I’m Feeling Now.
But before the fame, when he was trying to find his footing in the music industry, Lewis Capaldi, 27, auditioned for Britain’s Got Talent but was ghosted.
In a Heart Breakfast interview with Amanda Holden in 2019, he told her: “I did go on Britain’s Got Talent, Amanda.
“I went on Britain’s Got Talent and I went to the auditions, and I went up and I sang White Blank Page by Mumford & Sons.
“And then I got a phone call saying, ‘Lewis that was great, we’re going to put you through, and we’re going to try and hurry it through’.
“Then I never received another phone call again.”
Realising the mistake the producers had made, a stunned Amanda exclaimed: “OMG we turned down Lewis Capaldi. Can you imagine?”
Today, Lewis has seven UK number ones to his name and has found success across the pond with his hit single Someone You Loved, which topped the US charts.
Paige Turley
Paige Turley is now known for winning the first ever winter edition of Love Island alongside her now-ex Finn Tapp.
But before coming a reality darling, she had hopes of becoming a pop star and auditioned for Britain’s Got Talent in 2012, like her ex Lewis Capaldi.
Paige, 26, impressed the judges and soared to the semi-final before she was booted off.
Determined to find fame, she sent in an audition for Love Island and ended up winning the show with Finn, who she dated for three years until they split last year.
Paige signed a record deal in 2020 – although she hasn’t managed to top the charts just yet.
But she’s one of the most successful influencers to come out of the ITV dating show with 1.5million followers on Instagram and countless brand endorsements.
She was most recently seen on Celebrity Ex On The Beach, getting back together with Finn briefly before splitting once more.
Megan McKenna
In 2009, aged 16, Megan McKenna’s dream of becoming a pop star led her to Britain’s Got Talent as part of the duo, Harmony, alongside her friend Demi.
Although the pair wowed the judges with their performance, they didn’t make it past the semi-finals.
These days, Megan, 31, has become a superstar in the world of reality TV and has been on The Only Way is Essex, Ex on The Beach, and Celebrity Big Brother.
In 2017, she even had her own reality show, There’s Something About Megan, and even won The X Factor: Celebrity in 2019, proving Simon wrong.
Looking back on her time on Britain’s Got Talent in a 2019 interview, she agreed she was not ready for the big time.
She told Loose Women: “We were young, I was 16, and we didn’t actually think we were going to get as far as we did but we got through to the semi-finals.
“I think getting that taste of being in the TV industry and singing live and stuff was like ‘I just want this so bad’. But it’s taken me so long, it’s so difficult.”
But Megan hasn’t given up her pop star ambitions – she’s released a string of singles, has even topped the iTunes chart, and performed at Glastonbury in 2022.
Also in 2022, Megan – who’s worth £3.2 million – was a runner-up on Celebrity Masterchef, going on to release best-selling cookbook Can You Make That Gluten Free?
Sheku Kanneh-Mason
In 2015, Sheku Kenneh-Mason captured the hearts of the nation when he auditioned for Britain’s Got Talent alongside his musical siblings.
They made it to the semi-finals and played a classical rendition of pop songs before they were booted off.
The 25-year-old cellist had an epic bounce back, however, and was crowned 2016’s BBC Young Musician of the Year, becoming the first black musician to get the honour.
He also received a ton of attention when he performed at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s royal wedding in 2018.
Sheku’s string of good fortune continued in 2020 when he was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire for his services to music.
And last year, Sheku was the instrumental soloist at the Last Night of the Proms, performing alongside soprano Lise Davidsen, and conducted by Marin Alsop.
Charlie Wernham
Although he received a mixed bag of comments throughout his time on the show, Charlie Wernham made it to the semi-finals in 2008.
After his taste of fame, he began attending weekend classes at the Sylvia Young Theatre School and soon landed a role on an episode of The Inbetweeners.
He quickly got a role in E4’s School of Comedy before becoming a regular in Bad Education alongside Jack Whitehall.
In 2022, Charlie, 29, even rose to co-lead the show with Layton Williams for its reboot, which he’s still starring in today.
Charlie has also tried his hand at soaps, playing Aaron Monroe on EastEnders from 2021 to 2022.
He also starred as Robbie Roscoe in Hollyoaks from 2013 to 2016, and is soon to return for a storyline with Emma Rigby’s character Hannah Ashworth.
Shaheen Jafargholi
Shaheen Jafargholi, 27, was only 12 years old when he made it all the way to the finals of BGT in 2009 and finished in seventh place.
He performed Michael Jackson’s 1969 hit Who’s Loving You and was later invited by the King of Pop’s family to sing the song at his funeral memorial service.
Michael had planned to perform the song with Shaheen in his This Is It concerts, which was set to begin before his untimely death in 2009.
Since then, Shaheen joined EastEnders in 2016, playing the role of Shakil Kazem.
After the character was killed off in 2018, he joined the cast of Casualty as nurse Marty Kirkby and bowed out of the role last year.
He also played Bill Ahmadi in BBC Three comedy Wreck last year.
Jack Carroll
After getting a unanimous positive vote, a 14-year-old funnyman Jack Caroll sailed through to the finals of Britain’s Got Talent in 2013.
He finished up as the runner-up, with 42.5 per cent of the public vote.
After the popularity he got from the show, Jack, who has cerebral palsy, transitioned to acting and appeared in BBC One’s Big School, alongside David Walliams and Catherine Tate.
In 2019, the 25-year-old made his movie debut with the critically acclaimed comedy film, Eaten By Lions.
Since then, Jack has also made appearances in Father Brown and Doctors – and most recently he’s been playing Carla Connor’s nephew Bobby Crawford in Coronation Street.
Calum Scott
In 2015, Calum Scott had a rather awkward start to his Britain’s Got Talent journey when he watched his sister, Jade, get rejected by the judges before he took to the stage himself.
The 35-year-old ex-HR worker managed to reach the final but finished in sixth place.
After the show, he independently released his single, Dancing On My Own, which reached number two on the singles charts and went on to be certified platinum after selling 600,000 copies – and was Britain’s best-selling single of summer 2016.
His collaboration with Leona Lewis, You Are the Reason, was released ahead of his debut album and became a global hit.
Last year, Calum collaborated with DJ Jax Jones on a song titled Whistle, and his body of work has now had hundreds of millions of downloads, making him worth £2.1 million.
Izzy Judd
Izzy Judd was part of the group, Escala, who impressed the judges with their electronic string skills back in 2008.
They got to the final but lost out to George Sampson.
In 2012, she married McFly star Harry Judd– she played in the strings section backing his band, McFly.
In 2017, Izzy published memoir Dare to Dream: My Struggle to Become a Mum – A Story of Heartache and Hope, revealing her struggles with IVF, which went on to become a Sunday Times bestseller.
Izzy and Harry now have three children together, Lola, seven, Kit, five, and Lockie, two.
Kai Widdrington
Kai Widdrington joined the cast of Strictly in 2021 as a professional dancer and made the final with AJ Odudu before she was forced to pull out due to injury.
But he’d already impressed the nation with his moves twice before on Britain’s Got Talent.
In 2012, aged 16, Kai made it to the finals of the ITV talent competition with his dance partner Natalia Jeved, having wowed the judges with a dance routine to Show Me How You Burlesque by Christina Aguilera.
He auditioned for the show again two years later, as part of Latin dance troupe Kings and Queens.
And he wasn’t the only Strictly professional in the group, as he was joined by Katya and Neil Jones– who were married at the time. Sadly the group crashed out in the semi-finals.
Katya and Neil Jones
Along with Kai, Strictly pros Katya and Neil were part of Kings and Queens in 2014.
In a clip from the show, Neil is asked how all of the members know each other, and he points out Katya, saying: “We’re married”.
Although they didn’t make it to the finals, it wasn’t all bad news, with Neil and Katya joining Strictly two years later in 2016 – building a huge fan following with their exposure on the show.
In 2018, their five-year marriage was famously struck by the Strictly Curse when Katya was spotted snogging celeb partner Seann Walsh, with she and Neil filing for divorce the following year.
They have both remained on the show despite the split – with Katya sadly having to withdraw from the competition just before the semi-final last year, as her dance partner Nigel Harman suffered an injury.
Meanwhile, Neil had a child last year with former Love Island star Chyna Mills.
Molly Rainford
Molly Rainford, 23, is now one of the biggest stars on EastEnders, having played Anna Knight since last year.
But she also appeared on BGT aged 11, in 2012.
Molly’s singing impressed the viewers and judges so much she made it all the way through to the finals, but she lost out to Ashleigh and Pudsey.
Afterwards, Simon and Sony Music even honoured her with their first ever drama school scholarship at internationally renowned Sylvia Young Theatre School.
And it paid off, as Molly went on to star in CBBC show Nova Jones, before appearing on Strictly in 2022, coming runner-up.
She then landed her job on EastEnders soon after.