Britain’s Got Talent’s live shows have been postponed as a result of the coronavirus outbreak.
ITV has confirmed that the series will begin as planned with the pre-recorded audition stages starting on TV in the coming weeks.
However the live shows, which were to air in the last week of May, will take place later in the year.
In a statement, ITV said: “The Britain’s Got Talent audition shows will broadcast on ITV in the next few weeks.
“We have been working with the brilliant production teams at Thames and Syco to find a way of making the live finals work, which were due to be broadcast at the end of May.
“However, in light of the latest government health guidelines and in line with our priority of safeguarding the well-being of everyone involved in our programmes, production of the live shows cannot go ahead as planned.
“The live finals will therefore be broadcast later in the year.”
No exact date for the Britain’s Got Talent live shows has been confirmed.
It follows a number of other TV shows and series making sweeping changes to their filming schedules.
The Voice UK has also postponed its live shows to later on in the year while the 2020 Eurovision Song Contest has been cancelled completely.
The audition stages – which were recorded earlier in 2020 – are expected to begin on Saturday nights in April.
Britain’s Got Talent judge Amanda Holden reacted to the news on Heart Breakfast this morning (Tuesday, March 24).
She said: “We got the call over the weekend and I think it’s for the best…
“I mean I think that Ant and Dec did an amazing job of Takeaway on Saturday but I’m not sure our show, I think our show would suffer quite badly from not having a proper audience. So yes we have heard it’s the Autumn…
“I would say it might be later than September but it’s quite a competitive time of year as well so…”
Amanda added: “I’m hoping we can still strip it, strip means we sort of do it every single day like we used to or we might end up doing it over the weekends but it’s all still in the running but I definitely think it’s for the best. ”
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