Britain’s Got Talent 2020 semi-finals start date confirmed as show returns

The return date for Britain’s Got Talent 2020 has been confirmed as the semi-finals air.

ITV previously confirmed that the series would delay the next stage after the auditions aired earlier in 2020.

The channel has now announced when the show will return, starting with a one-off catch up show revealing which acts have made the semi-finals on Sunday, September 30 at 6:30PM on ITV.

Britain’s Got Talent semi-final start date

The semi-finals will then begin the next Saturday, September 5 at 8PM on ITV and continue weekly.

Due to current social distancing restrictions episodes will be pre-recorded.

Eight contestants will perform in each semi-final and the judges will choose one act to go through. The second finalist will then be chosen via public vote when the episode airs.

Some acts will take part remotely via video link whilst others will perform in the TV studio.

There won’t be a live audience but instead there will be a ‘virtual’ one as the show is streamed to homes across the UK and the virtual audiences’ reactions then beamed into the studio on a giant screen.

The series will then culminate with the live final, in October, where one act will triumph as Britain’s Got Talent 2020 Champion and win the life-changing £250,000 prize plus that coveted role on The Royal Variety Performance.

Meanwhile, Simon Cowell won’t be a part of the semi-final stages.

Former BGT winner and Diversity star Ashley Banjo will temporarily take over his seat after Simon was ordered to rest by doctors following a bike accident.

Ashley said: “As if 2020 couldn’t get any crazier! It’s super humbling and super exciting! I remember being on that stage last year and talking about how it’s been ten years since we won, and how people should never tell you, you can’t do something.

“Walking on that stage as a 20-year-old street dancer from the streets of East London and now I am walking out there and stepping in for the big man! It feels really nice, almost poetic.”

Ashley will join returning judges Amanda Holden, Alesha Dixon and David Walliams and hosts Ant and Dec.