Britain's Got Talent viewers slam 'rude' Simon Cowell after comment made to Dec during live semi-final

Simon Cowell has been accused of acting rudely towards Britain's Got Talent host Declan Donnelly.

Last night (25 April), presenting duo Ant and Dec made their return to live television just a day after the chaotic finale for I'm A Celebrity: South Africa.

The pair appeared in high spirits throughout the BGT episode and even laughed off the events of the previous night, even joking that they loved 'live telly'.

However, the evening wasn't without hiccups, as Donnelly appeared to clash with lead judge Cowell after attempting to wrap up feedback given to one of the contestants.

Following a lengthy performance from magician Fraser Penman, which saw the hypnotist correctly guess Amanda Holden's childhood memories, Donnelly was keen to keep the show running to schedule and attempted to cut short Cowell's feedback of the 31-year-old Scotsman.

The pair had warned the judges against starting drama (ITV)

"Thank you, judges, thank you very much," the 50-year-old said, as there were likely producers in his ear who wanted to make sure the episode didn't run over.

However, Cowell didn't take lightly to having his comments cut short, abruptly brushing the presenter off in order to continue with his feedback.

"I'm still talking!" he told Donnelly.

Of course, Cowell wasn't being deliberately combative and just wanted to give his honest feedback on Penman's performance, but the moment clearly caught the presenter by surprise.

The exchange didn't sit too well with fans either, as several viewers took to social media to complain about Cowell's behaviour at that moment.

"'I’m still talking' Simon, I think Ant and Dec have had enough attitude for this weekend," complained one viewer on X, as a second added: "Wow @SimonCowell is a little rude I’m still talking!"

"Omg I couldn't tell if he'd said that or 'I'll stop talking', poor Dec, hasn't he been through enough," penned a third, while someone else joked that Donnelly had 'reached his limit' of chaotic live TV.

The exchange followed a warning to the judges from Ant and Dec, with the pair insisting there would be 'no drama' that evening.

Cowell received backlash for his brisk response to Dec (ITV)

"We had quite enough drama on the telly last night," Ant McPartlin told Cowell, Holden and fellow judges Alesha Dixon and KSI, adding: "Can you please, you four, be on your very best behaviour tonight."

"If you misbehave, you'll be out," Donnelly added.

The drama the pair are referring to is, of course, the epic bust-up involving Jimmy Bullard, David Haye and Adam Thomas during Friday's I'm A Celeb episode, with the former two reportedly being kicked out of the finale for their behaviour, which led to several stars walking off stage at one point.

LADbible has approached a representative of Simon Cowell for comment.