BGT pulls in 4.8m viewers one week on from Diversity BLM controversy

Britain’s Got Talent’s second semi-final pulled in 4.8 million viewers, just a week after its first show sparked backlash from viewers.

The ITV show has been embroiled in controversy after Diversity took to the stage with a Black Lives Matter-inspired performance, sparking over 15,000 complaints to media watchdog Ofcom.

Despite the controversy BGT only saw a decrease of 500,000 viewers on the previous week’s show when it returned to screens on Saturday.

The numbers were still a strong showing for BGT, as it received more than double the viewership of its main rival in the slot, The Last Night of the Proms, which has faced its own controversy and only drew in 2.1 million viewers.

The event has faced backlash from viewers after BBC said that the controversial British anthems Land of Hope and Glory and Rule Britannia would be performed without lyrics because they have ‘imperialist ties.’

However, the corporation made a dramatic U-turn following a heated debate and widespread anger over the decision.

Last week’s BGT pulled in 5.3 million viewers, as the show returned to screens after the semi-finals were delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

For the first time in the show’s 13-year history, the semis have been pre-recorded, with the second show being filmed two weeks ago, before Diversity’s BLM performance aired.

Despite this Ashley appeared to hit back at the criticism as he entered the studio to Elton John’s hit song I’m Still Standing in a defiant display.

Ashley’s group Diversity, which won the third series of Britain’s Got Talent in 2009, performed the routine last week which narrated the death of George Floyd, who was killed when police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for eight minutes in May.

The routine was met with a flurry of mixed responses from viewers, with some calling out the display as making a ‘political statement’ and others hailing the dance ‘powerful’. 

The performance has so-far sparked 15,500 complaints to media watchdog Ofcom.

It comes after Alesha singer Dixon told critics to ‘kiss my black a**’ as she threw her support behind her Britain’s Got Talent co-judge Banjo in the wake of the controversy surrounding the performance.

The singer waded into the ongoing row about the politicisation of the ITV1 talent series as Banjo shared a post on Instagram from a critic telling him to keep politics out of entertainment after the BLM-inspired dance was broadcast on BGT.

Dixon commented ‘they can kiss my black a**’ under an Instagram post from a disgruntled social media user, who said: ‘We the Great British Public will only support you if you entertain us and do not say anything about racism.’