Singing act The Dots left Simon Cowell baffled as they performed in a bid to win a place on stage at the Royal Variety Performance. The trio took to the stage to explain that they'd had to replace one of their members at the last-minute over 'creative differences.'
They told judges Simon, Alesha Dixon, Amanda Holden and David Walliams that one of the original dots walked out. "They were a bit difficult shall we say," they explained when pressed on the fall-out.
And as the act got underway on the ITV talent show Simon sat open-mouthed and tried to work out what was going on as the boogie woogie-style close-harmony singers performed out of time with each other, forgot their steps and squabbled. But then he admitted 'the penny has dropped' as things became even more chaotic.
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"It's like light-bulb moment," fellow judge Amanda Holden teased Simon as it became clear that The Dots were a slapstick comedy ensemble. One of the trio pretended to be left with a bloodied nose after being struck with a trumpet as part of the act. She then lost her skirt in the kerfuffle as her bandmate lost her wig.
Judge Alesha exclaimed as they sailed through to the next round: "I love seeing things go wrong. This is proper entertainment." And the praise came pouring in from viewers.
Karen Fenn tweeted: "First act #BGT Hilarious! xx @wargghh said: "Loved that first act. Can’t beat a bit of #slapstick." @Louwa1982 wrote: "Omg The Dots I was howling#BGT #TheDots." And @lightskeith described them as 'the Andrews sisters with blood.'
@PebbleBaskets wrote: "Just flicked the TV on to this and it made me laugh out loud for the first time since 2019! Perfect comedy timing and hilarious - great singing too."
@ioan_humphreys said: "OMG that act The Dots was one of the best things I've ever seen. Brilliant stuff." And @Nia_90x enthused: "Lol The Dots were jokes."