AMANDA Holden hopes the news series of Britain’s Got Talent will be “medicine for the country” amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The talent show judge underlined BGT’s more importantce, now more than ever, with people in desperate need of something to smile about as lives are lost and the economy is ravaged.
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She told the Mail’s Weekend magazine: “Obviously it’s all so worrying, terrifying really. My friends in the business are being laid off, theatres are closing.
“People’s whole worlds are just collapsing, but those of us who can have to carry on doing what we do. What’s the alternative?
“Hopefully BGT will be a bit of medicine for the whole country. I mean that. We need to just connect, to hear other people’s stories, laugh, cry, all those human things that BGT has always been about.”
Meanwhile Ant and Dec have said that Britain’s Got Talent will return to the live shows “later this year” after they were cancelled due to coronavirus.
The ITV talent show previously announced they would still be airing the audition rounds as they were all pre-recorded but that the lives would be postponed.
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The presenting duo have revealed they are expected to still go ahead later this year – if the situation is better.
Asked about the series on Radio 2, Ant told Dermot O’Leary: “The auditions start next Saturday a week tomorrow which we’ve already shot, there’s some great talent again this year.
“I think we’re going to do the lives later on this year hopefully, depending on the world.”
Dec added: “You can’t really make any firm plans at the moment can you? Everything is slightly up in the air. But later on in the year probably for the lives I think.”
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The auditions were filmed across the country in January and February and they will air in less than two weeks.
An announcement on Twitter earlier this week confirmed the news, saying: “Confirmed: Britain’s Got Talent returns Saturday 11 April at 8pm on ITV #bgt @antanddec.”
It comes as Ant and Dec have been completely forced to change the format of the Saturday Night Takeaway finale this weekend.
They were due to fly to Florida with 300 fans to broadcast live from Walt Disney World but will instead just be filmed from their separate living rooms.
The show will feature pre-recorded links instead and of course there will be no studio audience for the third week running.
