Britain's Got Talent viewers were left horrified on Saturday night when they thought an audition went terribly wrong. Those tuning into the latest instalment of the ITV talent show were converted when a montage of acts was shown on-screen.
It featured the most dangerous of the auditioning lot and included Steve Rawlings who was blindfolded and playing with fire before appearing to set himself alight. In the briefly seen moment, a member of the backstage crew was seen rushing onto the stage to help the auditionee.
But as he did, he also caught fire and was shown running around the stage before eventually falling to the floor as the judges - Amanda Holden, Alesha Dixon, Simon Cowell, and David Walliams - watched on aghast. As they sat open-mouthed on the panel, another crew member came onto the stage with a fire extinguisher to put his flame-engulfed body out.
They eventually made it to the side of the stage where hosts Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly appeared slightly more relaxed about the situation. But it didn't stop viewers from taking to Twitter to ask what the hell had happened.
"Did the crew man really get burned on #BGT tonight," @traceylouise_19 asked. @jemmabondc commented: "Somebody please tell me the man on fire was staged." @iBDWRmp4 echoed: "I hope the part where he caught fire was part of the act #BritainsGotTalent #BGT."
@naseem028 shared: "Britain's Got Talent just casually including a crew member rolling around on fire in a montage like its the most normal thing in the world #BGT #BritainsGotTalent." @cloudstyro screamed: "#bgt A CREW PERSON GOT LIT ON FIRE AND THEY STILL AIRED IT- WHAT?"
But it appears all wasn't as it seemed. Another viewer, who claims their partner was involved in the daredevil stunt tweeted: "@Jenbul13 Sorry to ruin the magic of #BGT for anyone wondering about risk assessment or safety, the “crew” member on fire was part of the performance- they were stunt performers. My fella was the one with the fire extinguisher, all rehearsed #BritainsGotTalent @antanddec."
The DRAMA. However, it appears to have been the only bit of excitement throughout the episode as BGT viewers took to social media once again to complain about the 'boring' episode.
@DaveEnglish123 tweeted: "Well #BGT ain’t got much Talent tonight that’s for sure. Boring." @ackleybridgefa1 echoed: "#bgt doesn't hit the same anymore half of the acts are boring."
@teammick complained: "Just wasted however long watching #BGT what happened to all the no hoper talentless dreamers and genuine unexpected discoveries, now it’s a fun free zone full of polished professionals."
