THERE'S never a shortage of dramatic acts on Britain’s Got Talent – but sometimes it's behind the scenes where the most explosive action unfolds.
Today Alan Carr revealed he was snubbed by BGT after talks to join the talent show earlier this year.
The comedian, 47, was all set to replace David Walliams but later learned it had gone to Bruno Tonioli, 67, after reading an article in The Sun.
Alan claimed no one told him he had lost out on the job and when he saw Simon at a party he was told: "Alan, that’s showbusiness."
Here we reveal other BGT feuds and grudges from over the years.
£10m lawsuit
Last week it emerged David Walliams is suing the creators of Britain’s Got Talent, claiming his private conversations were “recorded, transcribed and retained”.
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It followed a transcript of offensive remarks about auditionees, which he made “during breaks in filming” in 2020, being leaked.
David, who initially apologised for the comments, said: “These were private conversations and – like most conversations with friends – were never intended to be shared. Nevertheless, I am sorry.”
The former judge, 52, is demanding £10million for data breaches, loss of earnings and emotional distress after being dropped last year.
In a writ, David claimed he is battling “active suicidal thoughts” and has “lost the ability to be funny” because he fears anything he says could be used against him.
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9Production company Fremantle Media told The Sun it is “surprised and saddened by this legal action” after a “long and productive relationship with David".
It added it is “available and open to dialogue to resolve this matter amicably” but is “prepared to robustly defend ourselves if necessary”.
Wage protest
When ex-Strictly judge Bruno was hired in January, it allegedly sparked a wage row that led to two stars refusing to sign their contracts.
Amanda Holden, 52, and Alesha Dixon, 45, were said to be furious that the newbie judge would be paid the same amount as them – believed to be £850,000.
A source told us: “Amanda has been on BGT for 17 years, while Alesha is going into her eleventh year.
“They don’t think it’s fair a newcomer could walk into the show and be handed the same deal as them.”
They decided to “hold off and stand firm” during contract negotiations, which were said to be “very much down to the wire”.
Despite the row over Bruno’s pay, a month later Amanda gave the star her seal of approval.
She told us: “He’s a wonderful ball of energy and in a good way he’s already broken every rule… So much so that Simon will probably have to throw out any rulebook this year.”
‘Mini vendetta’
When Michael McIntyre joined BGT in 2011, he dreamed of becoming the “nation’s sweetheart, like Cheryl Cole” – but he only lasted one season on the panel before he was given the boot.
In his autobiography A Funny Life, he admitted: “I felt rejected and upset. Adding my name to the list of people Simon Cowell had fired was a blow to my ego.
"My publicist Gary Farrow had already released a statement saying I’d quit the show to concentrate on my tour, and that became the narrative.
"I jumped before I was pushed. Not out of the train, it wasn’t that bad."
Michael said he needed these "mini-vendettas to keep my motivation high", and his new "fantasy" became coming up with a show that would beat Simon in the ratings.
He added: "The most positive thing I can say about my [BGT] experience was that nobody remembers it."
Ageism row
Former America’s Got Talent judge Sharon Osbourne has had a long and bitter feud with Simon, and rarely resists having a pop at BGT.
She sensationally claimed she was axed from The X Factor in 2017 because Simon thought she was “too old”.
During a blistering war of words with her former boss, she claimed she had been “paid to keep her mouth shut” about the reasons behind her exit.
In 2019 Sharon let loose on The Talk, raging: “If you want young, fire yourself and get rid of those man-t**s.”
Later that year Simon said he had ended their feud, stating there was “absolutely no bad blood” between them.
Simon said: "Sharon gets a bit carried away but deep down she's got real affection for the shows. There will be other versions of these shows… and she is always welcome back.”
But it seems Sharon didn't feel the same way. In 2020 she claimed Simon “doesn’t like people who are overweight” and has "very dated" views on the Honest AF Show podcast.
In January this year Sharon delivered another hammer blow to Simon by criticising the BGT format during an interview on TalkTV.
She said: “You can only go so long before you've trawled everything… these types of shows I think are very dated.”
'Tension'
After Bruno replaced David, some eagle-eyed viewers believed they spotted mounting tension between him and fellow judge Alesha.
On X, formerly Twitter, they shared photos of the singer looking unimpressed when he was talking.
During this year’s semi-final, one user remarked: “I'm not a body language expert or anything but I can tell Alesha is so done with Bruno being OTT.”
Alesha appeared to fan the flames during an appearance on Saturday Kitchen when she admitted it was “strange” when she first started working with the former Strictly judge.
She explained: "Being the family that we were for 10 years, it felt strange at the beginning, it’s like a new normal, a new energy…”
Alesha didn’t reveal her own feelings about the star but said he “did fantastically well" and she believes “the audience loved him” due to his “energy and pizzazz”.
Simon 'taught a lesson'
In 2016 Amanda suggested she had to teach Simon not to pit female stars against one another.
It followed claims of a feud between Amanda and Alesha, which she hinted had been encouraged by the head judge.
Amanda told the Radio Times: “Simon’s stopped doing it now… He knows it’s not cool.”
It followed bitter grudges between female stars on other Simon's other shows – including between Sharon and Dannii Minogue while they worked on X Factor.
Amanda said she and Alesha had formed a beautiful friendship after the singer joined BGT in 2012, which prompted a re-think about what women want to see on the show.
When quizzed about why she didn’t play along with attempts to turn them against each other, Amanda said: “It’s not what women are naturally like and it’s not what women want to watch.”
'Treachery' row
In 2020, former BGT judge Piers Morgan claimed David Walliams was the reason he refused to fill in for Simon while he was recovering from a broken back.
Piers said: “I couldn’t work with Walliams. I think he is a duplicitous, treacherous piece of work.
“He is one of those people who says one thing to your face and then sticks it to you behind your back.
"If he was sitting there I wouldn’t be interested. But if he wasn’t sitting there, who knows?”
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Piers stuck the knife in again after David’s comments about contestants were leaked, claiming they were the “tip of the iceberg” and branding him “one of the nastiest frauds in TV”.
Yesterday Piers shared a photo of The Sun’s front page and wrote: “David Walliams claims in legal documents that he’s ‘lost the ability to be funny’ since being axed from @BGT for abusing contestants. When did he ever have that ability?"
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