A wild number of soap stars have auditioned for over the years – including some very unexpected faces.
But plenty of them never made it to our TV screens for one reason or another. One star was “most likely disqualified” from the show after the audience found out exactly who he was.
Auditions are open to anyone – even professionals – despite audiences fuming over the show being a “fix” after acts who already had careers went up against amateurs.
A TV source told Yahoo: “Ultimately, it’s the public who decide their winner, irrespective of whether an act has some previous experience. There is no unfair advantage because the winner is crowned by the public vote.
“It’s fair game, as all acts are voted for by the public. The show has never hidden the fact that auditions are open to everybody, irrespective of previous experience, and everybody is given the same opportunity on the show.”
Don’t miss…
Ian Bartholomew
Coronation Street star Ian Bartholomew auditioned for BGT (Image: ITV)
villain Ian Bartholomew auditioned for series 15 of BGT after his character Geoff Metcalfe was killed off on the cobbles.
Abuser Geoff made his wife Yasmeen’s life hell, and Ian went a step further to highlight issues around domestic violence with his BGT audition after the storyline wrapped. He performed an original song he’d written during the first -19 lockdown, titled This Time It’s Forever.
The judges were bowled over by his performance, as Ian took to the stage to announce: “I am from Cheshire. I was in . I played nasty Geoff Metcalfe. He was a nasty piece of work. I started in 2018 and I fell off a roof in the show last year. I am 67.
“The song I am singing I wrote myself and was used in a campaign by Women’s Aid to raise awareness about domestic abuse. I am not here for me, I am here for the charity and the abused victims.”
told him that his performance would have been even more poignant if he was flanked by survivors singing alongside him – and he received four yeses from the judges.
Amanda said: “I saw a woman here and she was in absolute bits and you are a champion for them. For me, it would work much better if you had some women with you and form some kind of choir if they are brave enough to stand with you.
“It is this odd concept of this man that we all know from singing about these poor women. I think it needs some coming out behind you so we can turn it into something even stronger. The song is very beautiful.”
His audition was never shown on TV.
Thomas Atkinson
Thomas Atkinson played villain Lachlan White on Emmerdale (Image: ITV)
Better known as his villainous alias Lachlan White in , Thomas Atkinson actually started out his career in music.
The actor performed on-stage in the final of BGT in 2014 – not as a contestant, but as a backing singer for finalists Bars and Melody. He confessed: “I was a backing singer on Britain’s Got Talent once, when I was younger. Yeah, I was in the final. It was weird.
“It was a dark time in my life. We had to do a little sway.”
Cait Fitton
Cait Fitton looked unrecognisable at her BGT audition (Image: ITV)
Another cobbles icon has auditioned for BGT in the past. Lauren Bolton star Cait Fitton once made the final of the ITV talent show.
Best known for her dramatic disappearance storyline in Soapland, Cait was actually part of a huge Got Talent act, and appeared as a member of the sign language choir Sign Along With Us in 2020 – two years before she joined the soap.
Cait helped to perform a rendition of This Is Me from The Greatest Showman, but the group were beaten out by comedy pianist and singer Jon Courtenay.
Fans were baffled when they discovered Cait was a part of the group, with one gushing: “The way I’ve watched their audition 100s of times and never realised Cait was in the group, she’s so incredibly talented!”
Jay Kontzle
Emmerdale star Jay Kontzle auditioned as part of a boyband (Image: ITV)
star Jay Kontzle hasn’t always wanted to be an actor. Before playing Billy Fletcher in the soap, he was actually a member of a boyband.
Jay auditioned for BGT in 2012 as part of a band called The Mend, who had previously auditioned for – making it through to the bootcamp stage before being axed as they already had a management deal. They finished in seventh place on BGT.
But now Jay has “moved on” from music. He told Inside Soap: “It is true, I was part of a band, and it was an experience. I don’t really talk about it now because I’ve kind of moved on.
“But the best thing about being in a band was the insight I got into the industry. We worked with people at the top of their game, like Simon Cowell. But in the end, the business side of music put me off.”
The Mend – founded by Take That manager Nigel Martin-Smith – released their debut single Where Were You in 2013 and even supported Little Mix on their DNA tour, but by 2016 they had split.
Molly Rainford
Molly Rainford was just 11 years old when she auditioned for BGT (Image: ITV)
At just 11 years old, actress Molly Rainford competed in the sixth series of Britain’s Got Talent, performing a rendition of Jennifer Hudson’s Dreamgirls hit One Night Only.
She made it all the way to the final after impressing the judges, but missed out on the crown as Ashleigh and Pudsey claimed victory in that series.
Molly – who has also competed on – made her soap debut in 2023 as Anna Knight, the daughter of Cindy Beale.
Jack Carroll
Comedian Jack Carroll later joined the Corrie cobbles (Image: ITV)
Comedian Jack Carroll might be best known for finishing Britain’s Got Talent as a runner-up aged just 14, but fans became endeared to his character Bobby Crawford when he joined the soap in 2023.
Bobby was introduced as the son of killer Rob Donovan and nephew to Carla Connor – and he’s been central to Rob’s return plot as Carla battled for a kidney transplant.
He lost out to shadow theatre company Attraction in the BGT final, who took 27% of the public vote.