BGT's Simon Cowell and Amanda Holden tease: 'Where else would you get a pole-dancing seagull?'

Britain's Got Talent 2025 arrives on Saturday night — but as the stage is set for more sensational singers, awe-inspiring acrobats and pole-dancing seagulls (yes, really!), there have been some changes, too.

Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly are waiting in the wings as auditions for this 18th series of ITV1’s entertainment juggernaut move from London to Blackpool — the UK’s home of variety entertainment.

"There's a bit of everything; singers, dancers, magicians, speciality acts, choirs and dogs — even things we haven't thought of," teases Ant, 49. "There's a lot of danger this year — there’s a moment where we were genuinely scared for Simon's life!"

Judges Simon, Amanda Holden, Alesha Dixon and Bruno Tonioli are back — and keeping Bruno’s chair warm for a few audition shows is YouTuber, musician and pro-boxer, KSI.

All judges — plus Ant and Dec — can hit the golden buzzer sending an act straight through to the live show which, this series, will air on consecutive Saturday nights!

Here, Simon, 65, and Amanda, 53, reveal why viewers should expect the unexpected…

Britain’s Got Talent is back for its 18th series — why do you think it’s still a huge success?

Simon: "It's that surprise element of never knowing what's coming next! People still think after all these years that I know what’s happening during auditions. No one tells us anything — we have no idea who's coming on until they appear on stage."

Amanda: "The show's success is testament to the amazing talent across the country that keeps it going; if it wasn't for them, we wouldn't have anything worldwide. Now it's a global show, so we invite everyone from everywhere to come on. I’m just thrilled to still be here!"

KSI is a guest judge for this series - what does he bring to the show?

Amanda: "The kids went nuts for him! I think he's going to bring in a whole generation of people that have perhaps not thought about watching our show before just because they want to see what he brings. He thrived on the panel — he's really good at giving bite-size, to-the-point opinions on lots of different things. He was also super quick to get on the stage — we couldn’t keep him off it!"

Can you tease some of the acts we can expect to see?

Amanda: "It's a really strong year, no other show can do what we do! I mean, you’re going to see everything including a pole-dancing seagull, where else would you hear that sentence?

BGT is known all over the world, evident in the fact that so many international acts come to the UK to audition. Where’s the strangest place you’ve been recognised?

Amanda: "I used to get recognised in Europe and the UK, but now it's in the Middle East, America and the Philippines. I get stopped in all sorts of weird places, like in the middle of the sea. I’ve had it when I’ve been fishing, too. The show stretches far and wide and that’s because of YouTube."

Indeed, BGT performances have had billions of views online, why do you think this is?

Simon: "I can't tell you because we didn't plan for it! I remember the clip of Paul Potts blew up, then the one of Susan Boyle went crazy; I had a feeling that one was going to be big, but I didn't know it was going to be that big. People come up to me from every corner of the world to say they’ve seen this or that clip online. It’s cool that, wherever you go, people have seen what you do. I am proud of that."

In a change to the usual format, the live shows will air on Saturday nights rather than stripped across a week, what do you make of the change?

Amanda: "It’s like a party at the weekend! Everyone can pour themselves a drink, order a takeaway and have a laugh! Or of course they can catch up on the sofa on a Sunday."

What kind of act do you think will triumph this series, winning a spot on the Royal Variety Performance and £250,000 cash?

Amanda: "I've said for years now it would be lovely for more than one person to win because then the money and the whole experience gets shared across more people. It would be amazing for a big group of people to experience the full joy of what winning all that money and performing at Royal Variety means."

Simon: "It really is open this year, I can’t predict it. It’s an incredible year and anyone could win. We want to put a smile on people’s faces - that's the best way of summing up what BGT is."

Britain's Got Talent returns on Saturday, February 22 at 7 pm on ITV1.