Covid forces ITV to delay Got Talent

Britain’s Got Talent judges

UK commercial broadcaster ITV has postponed this year’s edition of competition format Britain’s Got Talent as the country deals with its latest Covid-19 lockdown.

Filming for the 15th season of the talent show was due to start later this month but will now be put on hold until further notice as coronavirus cases continue to rise.

ITV said in a statement: “With the announcement of the latest government health guidelines and with our priority of safeguarding the well-being of everyone involved in our programmes, we, together with the production teams at [show producers] Thames and Syco [Entertainment], have taken the decision to move the record and broadcast of the forthcoming series. We will confirm revised dates in due course.”

The broadcaster noted that while “most” productions are able to continue filming due to the industry-wide and company Covid protocols that are in place, the hundreds of people involved in Britain’s Got Talent would make it too difficult to hold auditions.

Travel restrictions would also prevent many acts, who come from all over the UK and further afield, from getting to London for filming.

The news comes after ITV was forced to postpone the live semi-final shows for last year’s edition of Britain’s Got Talent when the UK was first hit by the virus.

Auditions had been completed in the early part of 2020 before Covid had become rampant in the country, but the live semi-finals, which were due to take place in the spring had to be pushed back to the autumn. They eventually took place in September without an audience present.