ITV Britain's Got Talent's Bruno Tonioli on why he's never watched the show and reason why Ant and Dec left him 'fuming'
We all know Bruno Tonioli as one of TV’s biggest personalities, whether he’s jumping up from the Strictly judging panel to give flamboyant feedback or fiercely grabbing the golden buzzer on Britain’s Got Talent. The Italian powerhouse is entering his second series of the ITV talent show and while it’s hard to imagine that Bruno, 68, would ever feel nervous on screen, he admits to some butterflies.
“There is a lot to live up to when you’re the new kid, ” he says. “You can’t take anything for granted.”
Bruno, who left Strictly in 2019 to focus on filming the US version Dancing With The Stars, joined the BGT judging panel last year, replacing David Walliams, who left the show after disrespectful comments he made about contestants came to light. It meant that his long-time pal Simon Cowell was his new boss.
“Simon is a friend, so there is the added pressure of not letting people down,” says Bruno. “Obviously, [when filming] you’re on the spot. And it’s like, ‘Here we go!’ But it worked very, very well and we had a great time.”
After a triumphant first series alongside Simon and fellow judges Amanda Holden and Alesha Dixon, Bruno is ready for another, although he admits that he has never watched a single episode of the ITV show.
“I never watched any Strictly either,” he laughs. “I never watch anything I’m in because I don’t want to be affected by it. When I’m filming, I can feel whether something works or not. It’s like when you meet your first love – I want to keep that moment going. Instead of, ‘OK, here we go again.’”
Last year, Bruno caused chaos when he kept hitting the golden buzzer, which automatically puts auditioning acts through to the semi-finals. This time, he doesn’t just break the rules – he also breaks the golden buzzer.
“Typical!” he laughs. “I didn’t even know I was that strong! There was someone on stage who was so moving, very inspiring. The type of person who wants to be good so badly, they put so much into it and have so much passion. I just whacked it.
“It had never happened before so they didn’t have a replacement for the buzzer. They had to fix it with Scotch Tape – it looked a mess. I thought, ‘Let’s start with a bang’, and we definitely did get a bang!”
Luckily, he didn’t get in any trouble with boss Simon, who is always trying to “instigate” mayhem. “Simon loves mischief,” Bruno says, adding that Simon and hosts Ant and Dec also enjoy pulling pranks on their co-stars.
In one particularly messy prank in the coming series, Bruno ends up covered in spaghetti and cheese. “I was fuming. I had cheese everywhere – in my shirt, in my hair. Ant and Dec were in stitches. I smelt like cheese on toast for a week,” he says.
With “surprising, interesting and uplifting” acts, Bruno found himself judging all sorts of performances on the show – something that Strictly didn’t prepare him for. “They’re completely different,” he says. “For Britain’s Got Talent, I’m not really judging, I’m participating. You can’t judge a dancer in the same way as you judge a comedian.”
Five years after leaving Strictly, Bruno now tunes in occasionally. “They’re doing a great job of it. It’s a fantastic show,” he smiles.
Would he ever return? “I think I’m busy at the moment!” he chuckles. “I can’t complain. Let’s see what happens now.”
Britain's Got Talent airs Saturday 20th April at 7:30pm on ITV1 and ITVX.
