Ant and Dec were left 'blindsided' by the actions of Simon Cowell on Saturday night's Britain's Got Talent, as he broke with tradition when giving his critiques to one of the acts who auditioned.
A teaser for the latest episode of the new series hinted that Simon was ready to follow in colleague Bruno Tonioli's footsteps by 'breaking the rules' and hitting the Golden Buzzer for a second time and, before he did that, Simon gave his firm backing to young dancer Lillianna Clifton.
The 13-year-old took to the BGT, with her dad watching nervously from the wings, to perform an emotional routine to powerful James Arthur track Trainwreck, with Simon and his fellow Britain's Got Talent judges instantly captivated by her performance.
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Alesha Dixon's jaw dropped over just how good Lillianna was and, when it came to his turn to offer feedback, Simon told the teenager, who said her ambition was to tour with Cirque du Soleil: "You can tell you have put in the work. If I could score this, it would be a 10," before adding: "Can I be the first to say yes."
And it was the fact that Simon very publicly declared just what he'd mark Lillianna's audition that came as a surprise to Ant and Dec, who were stood with her dad at the side of the stage.
Dec told her: "The comments don't get better than that. Simon Cowell gave you 10 out of 10 and we don't even marks on this show - that's how good you were."
Simon is being tipped for victory on this year's show, as his original Golden Buzzer act, young singer Malakai Bayoh is the 6/4 favourite to win.
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