Bruno Tonioli has been confirmed as the new judge on Britain's Got Talent, replacing David Walliams.
The former Strictly Come Dancing judge, 67, will join Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden, Alesha Dixon and hosts Ant and Dec on the next series of the ITV show. Bruno made his debut on the panel on Tuesday as the first round of this year's auditions kicked off at the London Palladium.
The internet had been rife with speculation over who the new judge would be after it was reported that David Walliams had departed the role when a recording was leaked in November of the comedian making explicit and derogatory remarks about contestants. Previous reports suggested that Alan Carr would be filling the role, but on Tuesday evening the official Britain's Got Talent social media pages shared a picture of Bruno alongside his fellow judges as they confirmed the news.
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Bruno announced last year that he would be leaving Strictly for good, to be replaced by Anton Du Beke, because his travel commitments made it "impossible" for him to continue in the role. The previous series had seen Anton step in as the fourth judge, while in 2020 Bruno was only able to appear on the BBC show via video link due to Covid travel restrictions.
Sharing a clip of himself in the London Palladium on his Instagram page, Bruno seemed thrilled to be getting stuck into his new judging role. "Here we are, Britain’s Got Talent. I am so excited!" he said. "It’s my first show, I have no idea what’s going to happen, but I’m sure it’s going to be brilliant!"
Britain's Got Talent will mark its 16th series this year, with hosts Ant and Dec having just signed up to another three years with ITV as they extended their exclusive contract with the broadcaster. As well as BGT, the pair also front the likes of I'm A Celebrity, Saturday Night Takeaway and Limitless Win on the channel.
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