‘Sexist’ Britain’s Got Talent fails to air a single female act on International Women’s Day
'All ITV showed was man after man.'
Britain’s Got Talent has been accused of ‘sexism’ after zero female auditionees were included in tonight’s episode, which aired on International Women’s Day.
The ITV talent show returned to screens this month with Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden, Alesha Dixon, and Bruno Tonioli back on the panel.
YouTube phenomenon KSI also joined them for a brief stint, stepping in for former Strictly judge Bruno during the Blackpool auditions.
Tonight, viewers were treated to performances from more thrilling acts, including nail-biting stunts, impressive magic, and electrifying guitar playing from an 11-year-old.
However, despite the array of talent on offer, audiences noticed something pretty major was missing once the episode finished.
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Taking to X, superTV247 wrote: ‘This weeks episode of Britain’s Got Talent just ended… and there was not a *single* female act. 80 minutes, and all ITV showed was man after man.’
This weekend’s BGT included LED actor The Blackouts receiving a Golden Buzzer (Picture: ITV)Also picking up on the lack of diversity, liamandrews123 wrote: ‘actually awful that on international women’s day all the acts tonight so far have been men, sexist’.
Another point made was that last year, Sydnie Christmas was celebrated as ‘the first solo woman’ to win BGT in its 17 years on screens.
The singer joins the likes of Diversity, Paul Potts, Spelbound, Tokio Myers, and Lost Voice Guy in the winners hall of fame. The series before was won by comedian Viggo Venn.
However, until Sydnie’s triumph, a woman had not won the show without being part of a group or performing with a dog since it began in 2007.
Last year, Sydnie Christmas became the first solo female act to win BGT in 17 years (Picture: Matt Crossick/Shutterstock)This is not the first time an ITV competition show has faced backlash for a lack of female representation. Discourse around Dancing On Ice has raged throughout the current series, as a woman has not lifted the trophy since 2013 when gymnast Beth Tweddle and her partner Daniel Whiston were crowned winners.
Meanwhile, tonight on BGT, acts shown included French comedian David Burlet, opera singer John Pierce, magician TK, ‘professional egg walker’ Lan Guangping, and hoop divers Troupe Abyssinia.
Comment nowWhat did you think of the lack of women in tonight’s BGT?Comment NowSchoolboy Olly Pearson earned a Golden Buzzer for his guitar skills, as did The Blackout for their LED show.
Also featured was variety act Kranthi Drillman, who travelled from India. He left the live audience and viewers at home on the edge of their seats by smashing coconuts with his bare hands.
He then seemingly endangered Simon’s life by smashing watermelons around his head with a sledgehammer, causing the music mogul to plead for the performance to cease.
Viggo Venn won the talent show in 2023 (Picture: ITV)Despite not including any women in their IWD episode, BGT got the nation talking last weekend when viewers became convinced they’d witnessed the birth of ‘the next Susan Boyle.’
Stacey Leadbetter, 31, had people in tears with her rendition of Snow Patrol’s Run, which led boxing champ KSI to press the coveted Golden Buzzer.
Other only-female acts so far this series have included eight-year-old dancer Binita Chetry and Abba singing duo Han & Fran.
ITV has been contacted for comment.
Britain’s Got Talent airs Saturdays on ITV1 and ITVX.
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