News

Ofcom receives more complaints about Britain’s Got Talent over treatment of Simon Cowell

Sticking up for Simon

Simon Cowell caused a sensation on Thursday night when he walked off stage during the Britain’s Got Talent’s live semi-finals.

And it seems he wasn’t the only one who was annoyed at the segment.

A report on  revealed that viewers complained to Ofcom after the incident.

Simon stormed off-stage during the ventriloquist act (Credit: ITV)

Read more: Britain’s Got Talent fans angry as ITV goes down during semi-final

Ventriloquist Jimmy Tamley brought Simon and David Walliams up on stage as part of his act.

He asked them both to wear dummy mouths, before trying to make them dance.

At that point Simon stormed off-stage only to return for the final part of the act, joking that he was “going to murder” the producers for setting him up.

BGT judging panel
Some viewers thought that Simon was badly treated (Credit: ITV)

Read more: BGT viewers slam Simon Cowell for ‘rude’ and ‘nasty’ remark to contestant

After Jimmy’s performance and Simon’s drama, regulatory body OFCOM received complaints from viewers.

The regulatory body confirmed to Digital Spy that six people said they “objected to the humiliating treatment of Simon Cowell in Jimmy Tamley’s ventriloquist act, and to the level of sexual innuendo.”

A further six people complained, saying that they “considered repeated jokes/insinuations about David Walliams and Simon Cowell being gay/having sex in the above routine were homophobic and poking fun at sexuality”.

BGT judging panel

Read more: Britain’s Got Talent viewers baffled as they spot something ‘odd’ about Amanda Holden’s outfit

Following the act, a source at BGT told ED! that Simon walked off because of an old ski injury and not because he was cross.

“It turns out the reason Simon left the stage was due to an old ski-ing injury,” they said.

“Jimmy grabbed hold of Simon’s knee but, understandably, won’t have realised about Simon’s old injury when he wanted him to do the can-can.

“So Simon had to take the lead to stop any embarrassment! Backstage, everyone has been giggling – and Simon thinks it was a great TV moment!”

Ventriloquist Jimmy did not make through tomorrow night’s live final (Sunday June 2).

Alongside escape artist Jonathan Goodwin, the Britain’s Got Talent finalists include X, Kojo Anim, 4MG, Siobhan Phillips and Ben Hart.

Dancers Libby and Charlie were given a wildcard into the final.

Head over to our Facebook page @EntertainmentDailyFix and let us know what you think of this story.

Related Topics