Britain’s Got Talent fans were fuming over ventriloquist Jimmy Tamley’s act on Saturday, branding it a “total rip off” of fellow ventriloquist Nina Conti.
But yesterday it emerged Tamley has been performing with face masks for 42 years – meaning he started when Conti, 44, was still in nappies.
The 64-year-old, from Devon, even won ITV talent show New Faces in 1987, beating comedian Joe Pasquale who was also on the series.
Conti, who uses the same masks Tamley strapped to David Walliams and Amanda Holden in Saturday’s show, would have been 13 at the time.
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But fans took to social media to complain Tamley had stolen Conti’s gig, after he performed it on BGT on Saturday night.
One user wrote: “Nina Conti called, she wants her act back.”
Another said her lawyers would be “drawing up papers” while a third asked Tamley: “What’s your talent? Ripping off Nina Conti?”
The BGT judges didn’t seem to make the connection, with Alesha Dixon calling Tamley “refreshing and different”.
Last night, a show insider said: “Jimmy... has been incorporating masks in his routines for a long time, before Nina started using them in her act.”
Jimmy's other TV credits include Sky TV’s Stand and Deliver, and Channel 4’s Big Breakfast.
Britain's Got Talent continues next Saturday at 8pm on ITV.
