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Britain's Got Talent 2023: When are the semi-finals and final?

The long-running talent contest is back for another series

Ant & Dec and Alesha Dixon, Amanda Holden, Simon Cowell, Bruno Tonioli in Britain's Got Talent.
Ant & Dec and Alesha Dixon, Amanda Holden, Simon Cowell, Bruno Tonioli in Britain's Got Talent. (Thames)

Britain's Got Talent is back on ITV for a new series. The talent contest began on Saturday, 15 April, with Bruno Tonioli replacing David Walliams on the new-look judging panel.

Seven Golden Buzzer acts are set to take part in the semi-finals, which are fast approaching.

Here's everything you need to know about this year's series.

When are the Britain's Got Talent semi-finals and final?

The new series of Britain's Got Talent started on ITV1 at 8pm on Saturday, 15 April with a second episode airing at 7.45pm on Sunday, 16 April. The show has then continued to dish out new episodes each Saturday at 8pm.

Details of the show's semi-finals have been unveiled, with semi-final one airing on Monday, 29 May followed by two on Tuesday, 30 May, three on Wednesday 31 May, four on Thursday 1 June and five on Friday 2 June.

The series final will be broadcast on Sunday, 4 June. Hopefuls are again competing for a prize of £250,000 and the chance to perform at the Royal Variety Performance later this year.

Read more: Every judge of Britain's Got Talent so far

This year's auditions were filmed in London and Salford between January and February. Early rounds of the contest are pre-recorded before the show moves into live knock-out rounds in the run-up to the final.

Britain's Got Talent hosts Ant & Dec.
Britain's Got Talent hosts Ant & Dec. (Thames)

Who is judging Britain's Got Talent this year?

A change in the judging line-up is huge news for the show, which celebrated a decade with the same star cast in the 2022 series.

However, former Strictly Come Dancing judge Tonioli has now been confirmed as a replacement for Walliams.

Britain's Got Talent hosts Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden, Bruno Tonioli and Alesha Dixon (Credit: Thames)
Britain's Got Talent hosts Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden, Bruno Tonioli and Alesha Dixon (Credit: Thames)

He joins Simon Cowell and Amanda Holden, who have been in place since the first season, and ex Strictly panel co-star Alesha Dixon who joined the show in 2012.

It's a huge coup for ITV as Tonioli spent 17 series at the BBC with Strictly as one of the contest's original judges, before pandemic travel restrictions made it impossible for him to take part and he eventually bowed out.

Presenters Ant and Dec are also back to host again.

What happened to David Walliams?

LONDON, ENGLAND - JANUARY 20: David Walliams arrives at the Britain's Got Talent Auditions at London Palladium on January 20, 2022 in London, England. (Photo by Neil Mockford/Getty Images)
David Walliams was overheard insulting contestants. (Getty Images)

Comedian and children's author David Walliams spent 10 successful years on the judging panel, but has left under a cloud ahead of the 2023 series.

In November 2022, The Guardian revealed a leaked audio recording from the show's 2020 auditions in which he was heard making insulting remarks about contestants.

Walliams was heard referring to one contestant as a "c***" and said of another woman auditioning: "She’s like the slightly boring girl you meet in the pub that thinks you want to f*** them, but you don’t."

Read more: All the winners of Britain's Got Talent so far

He apologised, saying: "I would like to apologise to the people I made disrespectful comments about during breaks in filming for Britain’s Got Talent in 2020.

"These were private conversations and — like most conversations with friends — were never intended to be shared. Nevertheless, I am sorry."

Who won Britain's Got Talent 2022?

Simon Cowell pressed his Golden Buzzer for comedian Axel Blake, who already has his own show. (Syco/Thames/ITV)
Simon Cowell's Golden Buzzer choice comedian Axel Blake won in 2022. (Syco/Thames/ITV)

The winner of the last series was comedian Axel Blake.

He was a popular winner, but controversy hit when it emerged that Blake had already made an Amazon Prime Video special of his stand-up routine – calling into question whether he could be classed as an amateur.

Defending his appearance on the streaming service in an interview on Lorraine, Blake said: "I put that show on myself and I just put my money where my mouth is and I achieved that.

"That’s the thing, it looks like, ‘Oh my gosh, it’s Amazon Prime.’ But if they saw the backend, it didn’t look like that financially. All the stress, I had to borrow money from people."

He added: "After that, Amazon picked it up. It wasn’t for Amazon Prime. I didn’t know they were going to pick that up, and that was like a year later."

Cowell also backed him, saying: "I know you got a bit of stick in the media – ‘It’s a fix because you’ve been on another show.' That’s the whole point of shows like this, that you give someone another chance."

Britain's Got Talent is airing now on ITV and ITVX.