Alesha Dixon said it was “strange at the beginning” to have long-standing Britain’s Got Talent judge David Walliams replaced on the panel by Bruno Tonioli but he brought “energy and pizzazz”. Tonioli, 67, was confirmed as the ITV show’s new panellist after weeks of speculation, and recently joined Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden and Dixon during the auditions stage across the UK.
He replaced 51-year-old comedian Walliams, who had joined the judging panel in 2012 alongside Dixon. Last year Walliams apologised for making “disrespectful comments” about auditioning contestants during breaks in filming the show in January 2020.
Appearing on BBC’s Saturday Kitchen, Dixon said of former Strictly Come Dancing judge Tonioli joining the panel: “Being the family that we were for 10 years, it felt strange at the beginning, it’s like a new normal, a new energy. But Bruno did fantastically well. I think it’s quite difficult coming in as the newbie, but he came with all his energy and pizzazz and the audience loved him.”
