Since 2007, ITV's Britain's Got Talent has crowned 15 talented acts winners, granting them a life-changing cash prize and the chance to perform at the Royal Variety Show. Civilians have been turned into celebrities overnight, with some of the winners of the earlier seasons still popping up on our screens years later.
2022 is a big year for the long-running talent contest, as it returns for its fifteenth series after the pandemic quashed any chance of the show airing last year. With families excited to watch the highly-anticipated televised talent show unfold, the inaugural episode of Britain's Got Talent, which aired on April 16, raked in a whopping 6.1 million viewers.
Whilst some past performers, such as Diversity's Ashley Banjo and George Sampson, have kept themselves busy in the public eye, other winners of Britain's Got Talent have fallen quiet. So, what are the former winners doing now?
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Paul Potts
Tenor Paul Potts was crowned the winner of the first ever series of Britain's Got Talent in 2007 with his stunning rendition of Puccini's Nessun Dorma. And although he's enjoyed his fair share of fame over the years, Paul comes from humble Bristol beginnings.
Paul was born in Kingswood in 1970, and was raised by his bus driver father, Roland and his supermarket cashier mother, Yvonne in Fishponds. He fell in love with singing from a young age, and has previously claimed that it helped him get through the pain of being bullied for his appearance at school.
Before his Britain's Got Talent days, Paul was actually a Bristol City Councillor for the Lib Dems from 1996 until 2003. After winning the first ever series of the show, Paul sang Nessun Dorma in front of the Queen, and was then invited back to the Royal Albert Hall in 2012 in celebration of the Royal Variety Show's centenary year.
Since then, Paul has been portrayed by James Corden in 'One Chance', a 2013 film which tells his story of being a timid shopkeeper who surpasses everybody's expectations with his phenomenal voice. Prior to the pandemic, Paul appeared on America's Got Talent: The Champions, where he made it to the Grand Final, beating other previous Got Talent winners from across the world.
This year, Paul was a contestant in the German version of The Masked Singer, where he performed in a giant koala costume. He made it to the third show before being unmasked by judges.
George Sampson
George Sampson won the second series of Britain's Got Talent back in 2008 after failing to make it to the semi-finals in the first series. The then 14-year-old performed an iconic routine to a remix 'Singing in the Rain' as artificial rain fell onto the stage, impressing the judges.
Since finding fame through the televised talent contest, George went on to become a full time performer. After performing at festivals, releasing his own music, and starring in West End shows, George became an actor; you may remember him from Casualty, Waterloo Road and Emmerdale.
In January of this year, George jetted out to Los Angeles to star as Dean Paxton in the popular musical, 'Everybody's Talking About Jamie'. Now that the play has wrapped up, George has returned to the UK.
Diversity
Street dance troupe Diversity scooped first place in the 2009 edition of Britain's Got Talent, beating underestimated Scottish singer Susan Boyle. Since their victory, the talented team have made numerous returns to the show - most notably in the 2020 semi-final, with their moving Black Lives Matter-inspired routine, which Ofcom received nearly 30,000 complaints about.
The controversial routine summed up the events of 2020 that had occured by that point. Beginning with references to the pandemic and then moving on to address racism in the UK and around the world, Diversity performed the routine to a track which featured the phrase 'I can't breathe' - the words repeated by George Floyd before he died in the custody of Minneapolis Police in May 2020.
Despite sections of the British public not approving of the dance, the group picked up the 'Must-see Moment Award' at the 2021 BAFTAs, with Ashley Banjo thanking those who complained to Ofcom for 'showing why this moment was necessary'. Flash forward to 2022, and the group are currently touring the UK on their 'Connected' tour.
Spelbound
The fourth series of Britain's Got Talent, which saw judge Louis Walsh step in as a guest judge after Simon Cowell fell ill, was won by Spelbound, a gymnastic troupe from Surrey. After winning the competition in 2010, the group had a number of incredible experiences, which include performing at the London 2012 Olympics, the Royal Variety Show, and going out on tour with their fellow contestants.
It is not clear whether Spelbound still exists in any form now, as former member Lauren Kemp revealed in a 2020 interview with Aspirations Academies that she retired from gymnastics shortly after Spelbound's once-in-a-lifetime performance at the Olympics. Lauren said: "It’s a difficult situation.
"The girl that we would throw around got a little too big and we couldn’t be given an alternative top to work with because obviously it can take years to get that bond and work well together.
“It was the right time though, as we had done the BGT tour and had just finished at the Olympics too, so it was the perfect time to end on a high."
Jai McDowall
Scottish singer-songwriter Jai McDowall won the top prize of £100,000 and the opportunity to perform at the Royal Variety Performance back in 2011, after belting out 'To Where You Are' by Josh Groban in the Britain's Got Talent final. After winning the competition, Jai was signed to music mogul Simon Cowell's global record label, under which he released his debut album, 'Believe', before being dropped from the label the following year.
After Simon expressed disappointment in Jai's progress, Jai hit back, branding the judge as being 'anti-Scottish'. However, in a recent interview with the Daily Star, Jai revealed that he had patched things up with Simon, and had to hold back tears when the pair reunited on Britain's Got Talent: The Champions in 2019.
Since winning Britain's Got Talent, Jai has toured the UK alongside Jonathan Ansell with their star-studded theatre show 'Les Musicals', which is currently working its way around the UK. Jai also starred in an adult-only pantomime with Kerry Katona called 'Throbbin Hood' last year.
Ashleigh and Pudsey
Ashleigh Jade Butler and her dog Pudsey became the first dog act to win Britain's Got Talent in 2012 after winning over the hearts of the nation with their sweet performances. After their victory, the owner-and-dog duo skyrocketed to fame, heading stateside to appear on America's Got Talent and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. They even met Kim Kardashian.
In 2014, 'Pudsey the Dog: The Movie' was released, for which David Walliams provided the voice of Pudsey. Ashleigh has had her fair share of screentime over the years, too, having played the role of the Duchess in the TV adaptation of David Walliams' Mr Stink, and appearing in Celebrity First Dates, That Dog Can Dance, and Top Dog Model. The pair also appeared in pantomimes.
Sadly, Pudsey passed away in 2017 after being by Ashleigh's side for 11 years. The following year, Ashleigh announced that she would be continuing her dog trick act with her other pet dog, Sully- although she made clear that Pudsey could never be replaced.
Since introducing Sully to the dog trick world, the pair have performed on Britain's Got Talent and have shown their skills off at Crufts. In 2021, Ashleigh released a book called 'Happy Puppy, Happy Dog', which teaches readers how to train their dog.
Attraction
Shadow dance group Attraction won Britain's Got Talent in 2013, beating comedian Jack Carroll and singers Richard and Adam to win the show's £250,000 prize and a chance to perform at the Royal Variety Performance. The Hungarian act's routine told the history of Britain, beginning from the declaration of World War II to the 2012 Olympics.
Attraction, who took part in talent shows in Germany and China before achieving victory on Britain's Got Talent, created a special routine for China's 2014 New Year gala. They also had a deal to make television adverts for UK insurance firm, Swinton Insurance.
In 2016, the dance group performed for Queen Margrethe of Denmark, in celebration of her birthday. Attraction competed alongside Series 1 winner, Paul Potts back in 2019 in America's Got Talent: The Champions, but missed out on the winning spot.
Collabro
A group of opera singers from Leeds, Collabro won the eighth series of Britain's Got Talent in 2014, after being together for just one month. In both their audition and final performance, the group sang 'Stars' from 'Les Miserables', and ultimately beat Bars and Melody, and Lucy Kay.
Richard Hadfield left the group two years after their victory, citing tension as his reason for leaving. The current members are Jamie Lambert, Michael Auger, Matt Pagan, and Thomas J Redgrave, who are embarking on a festive tour later this year.
Last year, Collabro re-recorded classic Christmas hit, 'Mistletoe and Wine' with Sir Cliff Richard, and also put out their own studio Christmas album, 'Christmas Is Here' in 2020. Alongside their Christmas tour, the opera group also have shows planned with Katherine Jenkins, Aled Jones and John Owen-Jones this year.
Jules O'Dwyer and Matisse
Three years after the success of Ashleigh and Pudsey, Jules O'Dwyer and dog Matisse blew away competition and snatched the first place prize on Britain's Got Talent in 2015 - but not without controversy. ITV was reprimanded by Ofcom for 'misleading viewers' in the final of Britain's Got Talent after Jules used a replacement dog, called Chase, whilst executing a tightrope trick during her winning performance - the swap was only revealed by Jules in an interview on Lorraine the following day.
Jules returned to Britain's Got Talent for the fourth semi-final of the following series, where she performed alongside all three of her dogs. Now, Jules and her dogs live in Belgium.
Richard Jones
In 2016, Richard Jones became the first magician to win Britain's Got Talent, and did so after performing a moving tribute to the Armed Forces. Richard, who was in the army himself, beat singer Wayne Woodward and Stormtrooper dance act Boogie Storm in the final, with Alesha Dixon calling his performance, 'incredible, poignant, noble, brilliantly British'.
Since winning Britain's Got Talent, Richard has sold out tours, headlined the West End, and is one of the 'highest viewed entertainers on TV globally'. The celebrity magician also uploads videos to his YouTube channel, where he shares clips from his television appearances and tells stories from his career.
Tokio Myers
After his dad bought him a keyboard at the age of nine, Tokio Myers became fully invested in music, and, although he could not afford to attend the London School of Music, his hard work practising paid off, and he was offered a full scholarship. His musical talent was recognised again in 2017, when he won Britain's Got Talent after wowing judges with his 'edgy and refreshing' musical style.
Following his big win, Tokio provided the piano instrumentals for the Artists For Grenfell version of the Simon and Garfunkel song, 'Bridge Over Troubled Water'. Tokio has performed on The X Factor, and on Ashley Banjo and Diversity's 'A Night for the Emergency Services' ITV Special.
More recently, Tokio accompanied Alesha Dixon in a festive performance of 'Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas', playing the piano as she sang during the Britain's Got Talent Christmas Spectacular in 2020. He is currently working on two new albums.
Lee Ridley (Lost Voice Guy)
Lee Ridley, performing under the stage name 'Lost Voice Guy', was crowned the winner of the 2018 competition. From the North East, Lee was diagnosed with cerebral palsey at six months old, which affects his ability to speak and means that he has to use a voice synthesiser.
In 2019, Lee embarked on a tour called 'I'm Only In It For The Parking', a DVD of which was made, and he also released a book with the same title. He is currently on tour again, and will be performing at the Redgrave Theatre on May 8.
Colin Thackery
War veteran Colin Thackery broke a new world record in the history of music after winning Britain's Got Talent in 2019 and signed his first record deal at the age of 89, making him the oldest solo artist in the world to do so. Colin, who is now 92, moved audiences during his time on Britain's Got Talent, as he dedicated all three of his performances to his late wife, Joan, who sadly passed away three years before Colin entered the competition.
Colin's album, 'Love Changes Everything', was released in 2019, and includes renditions of 'Supermarket Flowers', 'You Raise Me Up', 'Moon River', and 'Dream a Little Dream of Me'. The Chelsea pensioner is set to perform at a shopping centre in Bracknell, Berkshire alongside the D-Day Darlings in celebration of the Queen's Platinum Jubilee next month.
Jon Courtenay
Despite 2020 being the year that Covid-19 hit, with Britain's Got Talent facing plenty of interruption as a result, the show was still able to make it to the final, and crown musical comedian Jon Courtenay the winner. Jon made the judges and the nation laugh with his comical song about the year 2020, and was the first ever Golden Buzzer act to win the show.
Jon has recently finished his first UK tour, and will be appearing at The Edinburgh Festival this summer, before heading out back on tour in autumn. On top of performing at both private and corporate events, Jon currently has several television shows in the pipeline.
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