Simon got home from BGT audition in Blackpool and thought ‘that was dark – I nearly got killed 12 times’

Trying not to move a muscle while a blindfolded man wielding a mallet attacked a watermelon next to his head – Simon Cowell admits he feared for his life during the making of this year’s Britain’s Got Talent.

And the fruit-crusher is just one of many weird and wacky acts taking part in the upcoming 18th series, which also features the show’s most grotesque performer yet – in the shape of Auzzy Blood. The American drew howls of disgust as he threaded a huge screw, and then a tube, through his nose and mouth – even persuading Simon to drink some wine from the tube running through his body. Welcome to the extraordinary world of BGT 2025, brought to ITV viewers this year from the seaside town of Blackpool, where head judge Simon says he really thought it was all over for him.

When the new series starts, the audience will see Simon lying on the stage with mallets and bits of watermelon flying all around as co-judges Amanda Holden and Alesha Dixon scream in horror. When a crew member finally steps in to stop the act, Simon looks dazed and shaken as he sits up and asks: “Are you f***ing crazy?” Speaking about that moment afterwards, he told the Mirror: “It’s that feeling when you kind of think somebody doesn’t want you on the show any more. It was that. It was the closest, genuinely, where I’m thinking ‘they actually want to kill me’. And I swear to God, that’s how I felt because this guy got really nervous and he’d slipped and was shaking as he was smashing these watermelons.”

Britain’s Got Talent is back for a new series! ( 
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PA)Simon, 65, said the laughing producers were telling him to ‘carry on’ but he was hugely relieved when it was all over. “The health and safety guys, normally quite annoying, actually stopped him. Thank God, they saved my life. When you’re up there you’re immersed in it and then you go home and think ‘that sh*t is dark, I nearly got killed twelve times’.”

Amanda, 53, said that watching Simon nearly get battered had been “horrific” because he had been told to stay entirely still, but kept moving and said he’d felt the “wind of the hammer” next to his ear. “Even with St. John’s Ambulance – I don’t know what they would’ve done – but in the wings it was so precarious because it was melon they were smashing, so the water was everywhere,” Amanda recalls. “Any kind of safety that there must have been was out the window. It was very hard to watch.” Alesha, 46, said she felt the same: “We were genuinely worried. I realised how much I cared about you, Simon! Please don’t do that again. It is funny though, the hardest acts to watch end up being the most entertaining to watch back.”

The judges say the acts this year are the best they’ve ever been
Another act which viewers may find difficult not to turn away from is Auzzy Blood, from Las Vegas who, at one point, hoists himself off the ground using a nasal hook. The judges admit the gruesome scenes might spark complaints. “Let’s hope so. Because I’ve kept fully dressed and covered up, so we’re praying for Ofcom,” Amanda quipped – a reference to previous complaints over her skimpy outfits.

Simon agreed that the TV regulator might receive moans but felt sure his ten-year-old son, Eric, would enjoy it. “We do have kids in the audience and I’m always looking behind going, ‘Do they like it?’ And actually, yeah, they do. But we probably will get some complaints. I love it when they say ‘don’t try this at home’ like we’ve all got screws and things just waiting to do that.” He claimed that he hadn’t actually swallowed any of the wine going through Auzzy Blood’s nasal tube into his mouth, insisting: “It got to a millimetre away – it’s close, but not quite.”

Simon discussed one stunt during the auditions
Guest judge KSI – a boxer, singer and YouTuber who has 80million followers – was relieved, saying: “The guy with the screws. What the hell? It was ridiculous. I can’t believe you drank from his face. I would’ve thrown up.” Despite this, Alesha defended the American act, insisting: “I found that fantastic to watch. It’s entertaining. It’s funny. And I do think all our kids will love that.”

This year’s show features some brilliant solo singers including Scottish bingo-caller Vinnie, chicken-shop Stacey who works on a supermarket cooked poultry counter and Linda from Zimbabwe. Simon said: “Some of those singers, they’re a bit shaky at the beginning. And then you see the audience are rooting for them and it gives them that boost. And when that moment happens and it works it’s amazing. Still to this day I love it. Those clips really reminded me of when we first started making the show, whether it was Paul Potts or Susan Boyle – it’s that moment when you can just feel everyone is involved and they like it and it’s going to change that person’s life.”

Simon gets involved as ever!Amanda agreed that over the 18 years, Simon had changed but was regaining some of his Mr Nasty persona. “He did go soft for a bit, but I feel like he’s coming back now.” The series also has several choirs, including a very special one made up of entirely of sub post masters caught up in the huge scandal, brought to life last year in the ITV drama Mr Bates Vs the Post Office. The choir formed because they wanted to do something positive to redress the negativity brought on by the scandal. Simon declared: “I will never buy a stamp again – I really won’t. I watched Mr. Bates – it was probably the most powerful piece of TV drama I’ve ever seen in my life. They were treated in the most disgusting way. They were bullied. So when I actually saw them, I was actually quite starstruck and it was a really, really powerful moment. I think it will remind people at home that it’s not finished yet – what happened to them is still going on. And they were really good.”

Other top moments in the series, which has a record number of golden buzzers, are a pole-dancing seagull and comedian Will Burns, from Leeds, who does impressions of TV stars including presenters Ant and Dec – from their Byker Grove days. Influencer KSI, 31, said he’d loved being a guest judge while standing in for Bruno Tonioli, 69, when he had a filming clash, and for Simon when he took time off after Liam Payne’s death. “There’s one moment which I know is going to come out and it’s going to go viral and I’m going to hate it,” KSI laughed. “It’s very good. And you’re going to enjoy it. But I hate it. I hate it a lot.”He was impressed by one guy from the audience who begged for an audition – and got his way. “I won’t spoil it, but let’s just say it was out of this world for sure.”

A new set of hopefuls want to make it through to the finals!

The judges said Blackpool was the rowdiest audience they’d ever encountered – with Bruno saying the noise made his ears bleed. There were also some strange characters in the theatre, including one woman who flicked the Vs at Simon for an hour – and then demanded a selfie. “She was mental,” Bruno said. “We called security.” But Simon loved the atmosphere and says they will now make Blackpool BGT’s permanent home. “A million per cent. It was amazing. I’d like to go back there every year – you wouldn’t have got that off a London audience.”

*Britain’s Got Talent airs on ITV on Saturday 22nd February at 7pm.