Ant and Dec have broken their silence to heap praise on their Golden Buzzer act Keiichi Iwasaki, after their decision split opinion amongst Britain's Got Talent viewers.
The first three episodes of the hit ITV show's new series saw three Golden Buzzers in as many episodes as, firstly Amanda Holden sent Greatest Showman singer Loren Allred straight through to the semis at the end of episode one. Twenty four hours later, at the end of an Easter double bull, Simon Cowell hit the button for comedian Axel Blake, while in episode three, David Walliams sent gold confetti raining down on dance act Born to Perform.
With episode four bringing no Golden Buzzers, there was some expectation amongst fans that this weekend's Britain's Got Talent might bring one and their suspicions proved to be correct as Ant and Dec stormed the stage to hit the buzzer for magician Keiichi, after playing a key role in his audition. The magician aimed to impress the judges with a string of illusions and got both the Geordie hosts and Alesha Dixon in on the action.
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After Keeichi's audition ended, Ant commented: "He is brilliant," with Dec, standing with him in the wings, replying: "I love it." And the lads loved Keeichi so much that they headed down to the judges' panel to hit the button to send him straight through to the live shows.
There was a real difference of opinion between BGT viewers watching at home as to whether Keeichi should have got the Golden Buzzer, but Ant and Dec were clearly very happy with their choice. Posting a video of him and Ant with Keeichi backstage on the hosts' Twitter account, Dec wrote: "Yesssss!!! Introducing ‘Dec & Ant’s’ Golden Buzzer act for 2022. Keiichi Iwasaki your tricks were and we can’t wait to see what you’ve got in store for us in the Live Semi-Finals!"
Approving of Ant and Dec's choice, one fan replied: "Absolutely brilliant choice of golden buzzer from you chaps tonight! He was superb - funny, genuine and talented, and came across as a lovely bloke too. So glad you pressed the buzzer for him." However, nowhere near as enamoured another of their followers commented: "Really poor choice. I’d only ever give a golden buzzer to a UK based act , non professional, who needs the break. If professional acts from around the world want to enter , ok, but no way should they ever get a golden buzzer as it’s at expense of uk talent who need the break."
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