Britain's Got Talent winner left on brink of bankruptcy despite huge success and £100,000 prize

Britain's Got Talent star Jai McDowell has revealed he was on the brink of bankruptcy despite winning the ITV talent show. The singer won the competition in 2011, scooping the huge £100,000 prize.

A staggering 13 million viewers tuned in as he was crowned champion. But despite being on a high at the time, he confessed he suffered years of lows following the win. While Jai said his experience on Britain's Got Talent was "great" and work came rushing in, his career dwindled after just eight months.

He revealed that one of his album deals was dropped and he struggled to handle the fame of appearing on national television. "People know your name before you know theirs and it’s such a mindf*** that it’s so hard to deal with," he told The Sun.

Opening up about the "dramatic drop" in his career, he said: “It came to a point where, on paper, you’re asset rich but I was cash poor." Times got so tough for the star that at one point he had to move back in with his parents despite owning his own property because he "had no money".

Jai admitted he was on the brink of bankruptcy and that it "took a long time, grit and determination" to eventually get out of the situation. Luckily, he says he is still managing to find work 13 years on and has since joined operatic quartet G4, who are currently on tour across the UK.

The singer recently spoke to The Mirror, where he recalled the moment before he won as he went up against Ronan Parke. He told the publication: "I know genuinely it does sound sort of out there but I envisioned the finale of that show and I knew it was going to be me and Ronan. Not going to lie, I thought he was going to win."

"That way I was like, ‘No, keep positive thoughts and keep going' and genuinely I thought that really helped and it’s one of those things. Life is up and down - it’s a roller coaster and you can’t always be positive all the time. I genuinely feel like if you can keep yourself in a better mental state with that you can - magic happens sometimes."

The star suffered another blow when he was forced to give up his singing career during the coronavirus lockdown. "I genuinely know I couldn’t give singing up because the only time I had to was during Covid and it was terrible, genuinely the closest I’ve ever been to being really, really sad. And I genuinely missed it," he said.