The dad at the centre of the Britain’s Got Talent ‘fix’ controversy has responded to criticism made by fans, insisting he had no idea he was set to get on stage and audition.
Singer Nick Edwards was sitting in the audience watching the show when his two daughters appeared on stage with their grandmother.
As they walked out in front of the audience, he said: “You’re joking. That’s my mum. You’re joking.”
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His mother explained how she had plotted with three-year-old Savannah and four-year-old Cali to enter Nick into the competition without him knowing.
She said: "Well, Nick doesn't know anything about it and we're surprising him because we want him to come and sing because he sings a lovely song for the girls."
After Nick performed, many viewers felt dubious about the poignant moment, with some pointing out that he already had a microphone on when he was sitting in the audience.
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One said: “Nick’s audition was totally staged. Fml.”
Another commented: “Nick was wearing a microphone while sitting in the audience. He had his song lyrics & guitar. Plus everyone has to go through several auditions before even going on the TV live shows. 100% staged!!”
A third tweeted: “#BGT is an utter fix! The dad who "knew nothing about" the performance. Was mic'd up the whole night even before he came on stage...”
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Someone else wrote: "Not staged, apparently. But why did he have a microphone already attached when surprised in the audience? Also luckily had his guitar with him. Make it make sense."
Nick has now addressed the comments, saying he truly didn’t know he would be auditioning that day, explaining that he was allowed 45 minutes to warm up after finding out, and how his family had brought his guitar along for him.
Appearing on This Morning earlier today, he told presenters Dermot O'Leary and Alison Hammond: "I was in tears the whole day pretty much.
"They gave me some time to warm up – about 45 minutes in total. They gave me my guitar my family brought down on the day, [the producers] said 'this is the song we want you to sing because we'd seen it on your Instagram'."
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ITV has also denied that the moment was staged, with an official spokesperson for the show telling The Sun: "We loved welcoming back our BGT viewers back last night after a year away.
"To report or allude to anything being staged or contrived regarding Nick's audition would be false and incorrect.
"He was totally unsuspecting. We did this so we could mic him up without him suspecting a thing.”
Featured Image Credit: ITVTopics: TV and Film