Bruno Tonioli causes panic on new series of Britain's Got Talent by breaking show's golden rule

Italian choreographer and new Britain's Got Talent judge Bruno Tonioli is said to have caused chaos on the new series of the talent show when he broke a 'golden rule' during filming.

Tonioli joined Simon Cowell, Alesha Dixon and Amanda Holden for the 16th series of the ITV show following the departure of David Walliams, who left the show after the last series came to an end.

Having previously been a judge on Strictly Come Dancing, Tonioli took his seat on the BGT judges panel as filming began last week - but it quickly became clear he wasn't totally clued up on the rules of the show.

PA Images / Alamy Stock Photo

Fans of Britain's Got Talent will know that for the last few series, the judges and hosts Ant and Dec have had the opportunity to hit the 'Golden Buzzer' for acts they think should go straight through to the live final.

To make it fair for the judges, each only gets one chance to hit the buzzer, meaning a total of five acts, including Ant and Dec's, will be moved straight to the final.

Hitting the Golden Buzzer sparks great excitement for the chosen act, so you can imagine the chaos that ensued when Tonioli apparently hit the buzzer not once, but twice.

The second act no doubt would have celebrated just as much as the first, but Tonioli had already made his choice.

An insider told The Sun: "It was madness. The buzzer worked but there was no glitter in the cannon above the stage as it had already been used up.

"A producer raced over to try to tell Bruno he couldn’t do that.

"Then there were discussions with the top execs and Simon [Cowell], who had his head in his hands."

@bgt/Instagram

According to the source, Tonioli sought to explain his blunder by saying he'd 'never actually watched' Britain's Got Talent before because he 'didn’t want to be influenced by other shows’ judging styles'.

Fortunately, the audience is said to have quickly forgiven Tonioli because they 'love him' and just laugh at his 'blundering' - though I can't imagine the act was as generous if they found out their Golden Buzzer didn't count.

Tonioli told the Mail Online the talent show is 'right up [his] street', and that there were 'no long negotiations' when it came to getting him on board.

"I just said: 'Yes, I want to do it.' It happened so fast that I have practically nothing to wear," he said, adding: "I am going to have to go shopping next week when I get to Manchester, I must make Simon pay."

The new series of Britain's Got Talent is set to air in spring.

LADbible has contacted ITV for a comment.

Topics: Britains Got Talent, Celebrity, TV and Film, Alesha Dixon

Emily Brown

Emily Brown is the Community Desk Lead at LADbible Group. Emily first began delivering news when she was just 11 years old - with a paper route. She went on to graduate with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University before contributing to The Sunday Times Travel Magazine and Student Problems. She joined UNILAD in 2018 to cover breaking news, trending stories and longer form features, and now works as Community Desk Lead to commission and write human interest stories from across the globe.