Entertainment

Britain’s Got Talent will return to ITV this month

The long-running show returns in April with two episodes over one weekend.
The long-running show returns in April with two episodes over one weekend. The long-running show returns in April with two episodes over one weekend.

Britain’s Got Talent will return to screens next week for its 16th series, ITV has announced.

The new season of the long-running programme will see Bruno Tonioli step in as a new judge to join Amanda Holden, Alesha Dixon and Simon Cowell.

Two episodes will air over the April 15-16 weekend with auditions from Salford in Greater Manchester and London.

Other contestants have been found through videos entered via WhatsApp and members of the public secretly nominating acts they love.

Hopefuls are again competing for a prize of £250,000 and the opportunity to perform at the Royal Variety Performance in front of the royal family later this year.

Comedian Axel Blake was crowned the 2022 winner and performed at the Royal Albert Hall for the Earl and Countess of Wessex.

Former Strictly Come Dancing judge Tonioli, 67, replaced David Walliams on the panel after the comedian apologised last year for making “disrespectful comments” about auditioning contestants recorded during filming breaks in January 2020.

Walliams had been with the show since 2012.

Geordie duo Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly are also returning to the programme they have presented since it began in 2007.

Britain’s Got Talent will air on ITV1 and STV from Saturday 15 April at 8pm and Sunday April 16 at 7.45pm.