Britain’s Got Talent judge Simon Cowell halted an audition, saying, “I think we should start this again,” as he got emotional.
The hit talent show has returned to ITV for its 18th series, with a fresh set of hopefuls gracing the audition stage in the hope of winning a coveted place at the Royal Variety Performance.
During Saturday’s (March 8) episode, the judges met 41-year-old music teacher John Pierce, who shared his dreams of being a full-time singer.
“When I became a dad, I put my dreams and ambitions on hold to provide for the family, but I feel now is the right time to show my kids and the students I teach that it’s never too late to follow your dreams,” he said.
John explained to the judges that he didn’t tell his children about his appearance, as he wanted to surprise them after his daughter previously shared her “dream” for him to appear on BGT.
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41-year-old music teacher John auditioned at the London Palladium on Saturday (March 8) (Image: ITV)
“We genuinely are rooting for you,” Simon said as John prepared to begin his audition. However, things got off to a shaky start when John nervously started singing.
“Hang on, John. I think we should start this again,” Simon quickly interjected, while urged him to “shake it out.”
As John began to sing for the second time, Simon quietly hoped that he would “bring it up a gear,” which is exactly what he did.
The crowd soon went wild as John impressively belted out an operatic version of Radiohead’s 1992 hit “Creep”, with the judges also sharing their delight.
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Simon Cowell was forced to halt a Britain’s Got Talent audition (Image: ITV)
“I felt quite emotional,” Simon then admitted. “You’re a teacher, you’re a dad. Your voice nearly broke at the beginning, the first time around, but these are, I think, our favourite kind of auditions where you don’t know where this is going.”
“John, you just broke me then at the end. I couldn’t stop thinking about your daughter and how proud she’s going to be of you. Your voice is unbelievable,” added Amanda.
“I could feel your nerves. We were all rooting for you, and I hope you just felt the love that just came from this room towards you, because you did yourself really proud,” Alesha Dixon concurred
Bruno Tonioli concluded: “Don’t ever doubt your ability. This was a very special audition, well done.”
Britain’s Got Talent airs on ITV1 and ITVX