‘I thought this was a family show’. Britain’s Got Talent viewers have been left grumbling about the adult nature of a number of recent acts on the hit show. The ITV reality series returned to screens for its 18th season on Saturday night (23 February).
Its first episode, however, has been rocked by complaints from viewers who believe the recent episode featured acts inappropriate for family viewing. Among the acts to perform on Saturday’s episode were a “naked” comedian, Akira, and a performer, Auzzy Blood, who twisted a corkscrew and meat hook through his nose and out of his mouth.
One person wrote: “‘A naked man seen parading around in public with only a tin tray covering himself’ would be a wholly inappropriate headline to read so why is it acceptable when it's on Britain’s Got Talent?”. Another was grateful their children weren’t present for the episode, writing on X/Twitter: “Thank goodness my kids weren’t in the room. They really should stop naked people coming out to perform. It’s NOT okay!”.
One fan of the show was not so lucky, and was left with one “screaming” child after they watched Auzzy Blood – with a Joker-like grin on his face –thread a large metal coil through his facial piercing holes. Someone else wrote: “How did this get through screening? It's not past 9pm?”.
A fifth person asked: “Why is there a bum on my TV at 19.53 on a Saturday evening?”, while another condemned the “grotesque” act that has “no place on a family show”. “May well be funny for adults,” said another viewer. “Nevertheless, not at this time of evening on mainstream TV.”.
Several other viewers agreed that “this is not suitable material for family viewing on a Saturday evening”. Despite complaints from viewers, the judges were impressed by Akira’s “cheeky” and “hilarious” act – which saw the comedian perform a number of tricks while covering his groin using just a plastic tray.
Elsewhere, Auzzy Blood shocked the judges with his gruesome segment in which he threaded a corkscrew and a meat hook through his head, nose, and mouth. At one point, the performer inserted a tube attached to a carafe of liquid into their nose and out through their mouth, instructing judge Simon Cowell to drink from it.
For the final act of his performance, Auzzy Blood pulled himself up into the air using a rope with a hook hanging from their mouth and nose. “It’s spooky horror where you don't want to watch it, but you do want to watch it,” said Cowell, who also anticipated complaints from viewers.
“That’s obviously why we're going to show it. We probably will get some complaints. Hopefully!”. The series returned with social media star KSI joining judges Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden, Alesha Dixon, and Bruno Tonioli as a special guest. Ant and Dec are back as presenters of the programme.
