Simon Cowell was convinced social media could end Britain's Got Talent for good.
The ITV talent show is the brainchild of the music mogul, and opening up about the new series, Simon has confessed he was worried the rise of things like TikTok and Instagram would mean the show had to come to an end.
Explaining his concern, Simon - who is also behind The X Factor and America's Got Talent - said he worried people wouldn't come on the show and instead would just use things like social media to grow their platform.
However, he says he has actually seen an increase in those applying for the show.
Speaking to The Mirror and other press, he said: "I was thinking a few years ago, with all these social media platforms, because you've got so many different areas now for you to become famous.
"I was wondering, does that mean they're not going to come on our show anymore. But, weirdly it's gone the other way. If you've got a social media following, they then consider - not everyone, but a lot of people - they now consider coming on a show like this as a next platform. Because you kind of need both really to really kind of pop, because there's so many people on social media platforms trying to get noticed. So it's been an interesting dynamic over the past few years and I really noticed that this year."
Fellow judge Amanda Holden thinks the show has become more popular with hopefuls in recent years.
"Experience doesn't always equal recognition and I think there's less snobbery from people now. They never saw us as a place to perform before, but they definitely do now," she added.
Alesha Dixon - who also sits on the panel alongside Amanda, Simon and David Walliams - was particularly impressed with the quality of the dance acts this year, especially after Diversity's huge successes.
"I really was impressed by the standard of dance. I think everyone has been feeling a bit frustrated over the years as we expect Diversity to come out every year and I think this year was the first year in a long time where we felt that the dance act had really upped their game," she explained as she discussed some of the acts ahead of the new series.
"It was very exciting and I can't wait for people to see that. It's like it had a new lease of life injected into it, and in a weird way, I think the break has helped people and they've come back fighting more."
*Britain’s Got Talent launches on Saturday 16th April, 8pm and continues on Sunday 17th April, 7.35pm on ITV.
