Reality Show Called out Over Alleged Fake Audition

Britain’s Got Talent returned to U.K. televisions on Saturday night, and there are already two big controversies. First, viewers were so convinced that the story behind a father’s audition secretly arranged by his young daughters was contrived that ITV denied it was staged. Viewers also thought it was unfair that The Greatest Showman singer Loren Allred was allowed to compete and even received a Golden Buzzer.

Nick Edwards performed after his mother and his daughters Savannah and Cali walked on stage. Edwards thought he was just there to support his children. However, they entered him in the competition. “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,” Edwards’ mother told the camera.

The show staged this as a heartwarming, surprise moment. Viewers were skeptical, though, as The Sun points out. Some saw Edwards was wearing a microphone on his shirt when he was sitting in the audience. ITV insisted it was genuine.

“We loved welcoming back our BGT viewers back last night after a year away,” the broadcaster told The Sun. “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.”

BGT viewers also found it unfair that Allred was allowed to perform. Allred sang “Never Enough” for The Greatest Showman. Her recording was used in the movie because Rebecca Ferguson, who played Jenny Lind, asked for Allred’s vocals to be used in place of hers. Allred was credited on the film’s soundtrack, so her work wasn’t kept a secret. Allred also had a deal with Island Def Jam Music as a teenager and competed on The Voice in 2012.

Although Simon Cowell claimed to be a big fan of The Greatest Showman, he acted as though he had never heard of Allred. He gave her the Golden Buzzer, granting her a spot in the next round. Viewers at home thought this was unfair. Both ITV and Allred have defended her appearance on the show.

“Whilst most people will have heard the infamous Greatest Showman track, Loren is not a household name, and she deserves her spot on the BGT stage,” ITV told The Sun. “We hope that such articles will not count against somebody who is well-deserving of this opportunity. It’s fantastic that Loren is now able to step out and stand in her own right to be the face, and not just the voice, of one of the most well-known tracks of all time.”

In her statement, Loren also pointed out that she is not a household name and is still an unsigned, independent artist. “Even though I have spent a lot of years in the music industry, people don’t know who I am. Over all these years I’ve been fighting for my chance to be known and to make it,” she said. Allred later added, “I have never gotten the opportunity to tell my story. That’s never happened for me. I am an unsigned, independent artist still trying to make a name for myself.”