Bruno Tonioli caused quite the scene on his first ever episode of Britain’s Got Talent, after replacing David Walliams on the judging panel.
The former Strictly Come Dancing judge appeared on the show for the first time last night (15 April), having never watched it before.
He is now a regular judge alongside Alesha Dixon, Amanda Holden and Simon Cowell.
Because he’d never seen the ITV show, Tonioli didn’t realise that he was supposed to press his red buzzer to reject hopeful contestants mid-audition. Instead, he did it after they’d finished. “No, you don’t have to do that as well,” Cowell told him, while laughter could be heard from the audience.
Tonioli also pressed his golden buzzer in the middle of an act’s audition (though he was meant to wait until it was finished). This meant that while Ugandan dance troupe Ghetto Kids were still performing, they were forced to wade through sparkly confetti in the middle of their routine. The golden buzzer sends acts straight through to the live semi-finals.
After it happened, Tonioli spoke toOK! magazine, saying: “Alesha gave me a brief, but then I forgot everything she told me! I think that was obvious when I pressed my golden buzzer at the wrong time on the first day!
“They were like, ‘Here are the rules, you press it then, not then.’ But that went out the window. I honestly got caught up in the moment, forgot everything I’d been told and just reacted instinctively.”
He added: “I looked up and Simon was in stitches, Alesha looked shocked! But that really happened. I mean, it wasn’t planned. I honestly had no idea I’d do that in the moment.”
Read more about Walliams’s controversial exit from the show here and his message to Tonioli when the new judge got his job here.
Britain’s Got Talent continues tonight (16 April) at 7.45pm on ITV.
