Jonathan Antoine's rise to fame on Britain's Got Talent is well-remembered, but he has faced away from the show. The talent competition, a staple of ITV's entertainment lineup, is back tonight for its astonishing 18th season. Judges Alesha Dixon, Amanda Holden, Simon Cowell and Bruno Tonioli are all set to scour the UK for fresh talent destined for the Royal Variety stage. Twelve years ago, during the sixth season of Britain's Got Talent, a then 17-year-old Jonathan wowed everyone with a stunning audition.
He performed The Prayer alongside Charlotte Jaconelli with his classically trained voice. His vocal prowess drew high praise from judge Simon Cowell, who likened him to the opera legend Luciano Pavarotti. Jonathan’s journey on the show was packed with memorable performances that took him all the way to the final, but he ultimately lost out to the charming dog act Ashleigh and Pudsey.
Echoing Cowell's sentiments, many were spellbound by Jonathan's voice, evocative of the great Pavarotti. Opening up about his Britain's Got Talent experience with the Mirror, the singer admitted the sting of defeat was far from superficial: "I remember the feeling of the organs sinking. I didn't cry on stage.".
Reflecting on his journey since Britain's Got Talent, Jonathan shared some profound thoughts about the nature of success and competition. "You have to then think, with Ashleigh and Pudsey, their mission with animals, they'll probably do more responsible things with that than I ever would. Wonderful people as well. Just remembering everyone that comes above or below you is made of the same stuff. We're all flesh and blood and electricity coursing through them. That's how you stay not depressed.".
Despite not clinching the top spot, coming second was a springboard for Jonathan and Charlotte, who quickly signed a £1m record deal with Simon Cowell's Syco. They released their first album Together in September 2012 and followed up with Perhaps Love in August 2013. However, by February 2014, they parted ways after both were offered solo deals by Sony Classical.
Simon had nudged Jonathan towards a solo career during his time on BGT, an ambition Jonathan always harbored. He explained: "Charlotte raised up my confidence to the level I could go on BGT and we made something beautiful. Neither of us had been ensemble artists, we loved solo performances, so it was the natural evolution of the thing. There's only so much a crossover classical duo can actually do without starting to reinvent the whole thing. At the point I had the necessary confidence and understood myself a bit more I felt it was time to make the leap.".
Jonathan's solo career has taken off, with his debut album, Tenore, topping the Classical Artist Album chart and tours in the UK and US. Now, he keeps his fans in the loop via regular updates on Instagram. Last year, to mark Autism Awareness Day, he shared his autism diagnosis from two years prior.
He confessed: "I got my diagnosis in 2022, not long after my 27th birthday, and for a short while fell into it like a daydream. The recontextualisation of a life already lived is a scary thing to reckon with, but those things done are already set - there is no going back from here! I still don't know what exactly I have to contribute to the broader discussion, I'm in the process of finding out what it all means to me in the first place, but perhaps the naiveties of that process are novel enough to write down, so I try regardless.
"Much as in our ideological tendencies I would wager that the vast majority of people lie somewhere away from the most extreme ends of a given spectrum, and indeed that those 'ends' really blur together in strange and interesting ways and loop back around through hidden channels -though I only have anecdotal evidence backing my opinion. I have met many people who are 'normal', but I don't know that I've ever met someone totally 'neurotypical'.".
Jonathan expressed his thoughts on the intricacies of human perception, stating: "Our inner and outer worlds are so vastly different, and by 'our' here I mean people in general. We cultivate inner spaces that twist our outer material world and then expect that outer world to conform to our personal interpretations of it. The filter of our perception generates necessary atypicalities, divergences from 'base reality'. We all get our own little 'Matrix' hidden just behind our eyes, and we each see a different tint over the real world. It's good practice to try and imagine just what kind of lens someone else is viewing the world through. Something to bring yourself closer to others, a little way to love yourself.".
He continued, "So be kind, look a while through someone else's glasses, and revel in how beautifully different we each are to one another. All my love, as sincerely as it could be given." Jonathan also discussed his recent efforts to adopt a healthier lifestyle and shed some weight. He revealed: "I've still got a lot to lose but I'm making my way. I feel stronger and healthier than I have in 10 years, which is a lot. This year I've made an active choice. I've felt I've lacked the discipline a lot.".
