Britain's Got Talent's most shocking scandals revealed – dog fraud, crying kids, dumped judges and 'fix'

Britain's Got Talent may be known as a rather happy show with its dancing dogs and singing children, but as the 17th series draws to a close, it's rather unsurprising that there have been some behind-the-scenes scandals.

From doggy fraud, to fix accusations, and one judge being booted off the show, BGT has certainly hit headlines over the years, with some of these scandals looming larger than others.

With the show for the Grand Final on TV on Sunday, 2 June, we're taking a look back at some of the most explosive scandals that have hit the show in the nearly two decades it's been on air.

Dog 'fraud'

Fans were delighted when Jules O'Dwyer and her dog Matisse won BGT back in 2015, however the public's love for them quickly faded when it was revealed that a stand-in dog Chase had performed a tight rope stunt in place of Matisse for the show's semi-final.

This led to Ofcom and ITV receiving over 1,000 complaints and after investigation the incident Ofcom ruled that viewers had been misled by the TV network.

However, despite this, Jules and Matisse still kept their crown, and Simon Cowell later announced that they would not be stripped of their £250,000 prize money.

David Walliams axed

Comedian, actor and author David Walliams appeared as a judge on Britain's Got Talent from 2012 until he was forced to step down from the role in 2022 after offensive comments he made about contestants were leaked to The Guardian newspaper.

Recordings revealed the TV judge has called an elderly contestant a 'c***' three times after they left the stage. In another X-rated rant about a female contestant, he said: "She's like the slightly boring girl you meet in the pub that thinks you want to f*** them, but you don't."

David has since issued a public apology over the comments and has reportedly been offered a multi-million-pound payout from BGT.

Singing set up

In the fourth series of Britain's Got Talent, young Jessica Hobson couldn't hold back the tears after facing harsh comments from Simon Cowell and David Hasselhoff for her rendition of Beyonce's Single Ladies.

When Ant and Dec gave her the chance to have her say, she started with: "I didn't choose what I wanted to sing. Apparently it was somebody..." before her microphone mysteriously went silent, sparking rumours among viewers that the show's producers might have set her up.

Simon's cheeky move with Amanda

The ninth series saw 71 year old Kelly Fox hit the stage with her number Kiss My Ass, prompting Simon to cheekily mimic the song title by fellow judge kissing Amanda Holden's behind.

The stunt didn't sit well with some watching at home, especially parents concerned about the content their children were exposed to. A representative from the National Association of Headteachers even slammed the episode, saying it contained "scenes no mum or dad with an ounce of morality would want their child to see".

Ofcom points the finger at BGT

The Britain's Got Talent voting app turned into a bit of a nightmare in 2012. Fans shelled out £1.49 for three votes to support their faves, but a glitch during the first live semi-final meant over half the votes didn't count.

The app was promptly axed for the remainder of the series. After a thorough investigation, Ofcom held ITV responsible for the blunder.

The tears of a young contestant

Hollie Steele was just 10 years old when she took part in the semi-final back in 2009 and broke down in tears trying to sing Edelweiss. She asked if she could start again but was told they had run out of time.

Thankfully Simon came to the rescue and allowed her to sing at the end of the night. That wasn't enough though to stop the show coming under fire for allowing children to be exploited though.

Even late TV legend Bruce Forsyth got involved, saying: "To put little children through that kind of ordeal I think is wrong. Some poor little girl was crying her eyes out on there. I don’t think that’s entertainment." Following which, Simon then labelled Bruce "Mr Grumpy."

Alesha's golden buzzer

At the end of the audition stage in the 2018 series, judge Alesha Dixon was forced to defend her Golden Buzzer choice.

Contestant Lifford Shillingford wowed the audience and judges with a version of Sam Cooke's A Change is Gonna Come. Alesha was so blown away she chose him as her Golden Buzzer act, sending him straight through the live semi-finals.

The public weren't quite so happy though, and took to Twitter to rant about the fact Alesha already knew Lifford from back in the day when she was in Mis-Teeq and he'd supported them on tour.

Alesha hit back though and told us: "He's not a friend. That sounds cold, but I don't have his phone number.

"I haven't seen him in years. When I say I know him, I know his music. I remember him from back in the day. There were shows that Mis-Teeq were doing that he was too. There was just a mutual respect and understanding between us."

Britain's Got Talent: The Final is on Sunday, 2 June at 7.30pm on ITV1 and ITVX