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Simon Cowell insists there are FEWER professional acts on BGT despite fix rows over golden buzzer acts
SIMON Cowell has insisted there are LESS professional acts on this year's Britain's Got Talent, despite emerging fix rows.
On the debut show this weekend, pro singer Loren Allred was given the golden buzzer after wowing the judges with her singing voice.
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Later revealed as the voice behind The Greatest Showman song Never Enough, the American-born singer went straight to the final thanks to her golden buzzer from Amanda Holden.
Fans furiously took to social media to complain it was "unfair" and dub the show "a fix" as Loren, 32, sailed through.
Now, judge and creator Simon, 62, has exclusively told The Sun that there will be LESS professional acts on the show than ever before.
He also hit back that he was pleased acts from all over the world were taking to the stage in the UK as part of the competition.
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"This year, there are less professional people," he explained. "That's where we started the show all those years ago.
"We started by opening the show to anyone regardless of a day job or hidden talent that they want to show to the world."
"This is the place to do it and thank god that's the show it's evolved into. We don't really have any rules on it," Simon went on.
"Wherever you're from, whatever you do, you are welcome," the father-of-one added, explaining the "appeal" of the UK show was likely due to the global stage on social media.
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"A lot of these acts come on the British or US show after travelling thousand of miles because these clips go viral," Simon said.
"It's not about just being seen in the UK, if those one of these auditions pops it can be seen by hundreds of millions of people.
"When you get those mega clips, your career can kick off. I'm guessing it could happen with the girl who gets the golden buzzer."
It comes days after fans were left outraged as Simon made a comment about "homegrown" talent on BGT's debut show.
The episode over the weekend showed Loren receiving the golden buzzer for her performance of Never Enough.
Many viewers thought it defeated the purpose of the show: finding hidden talent and giving it a huge platform to shine.
However, in the second audition show, head judge Simon seemed oblivious to the international contingent on the show, telling his fellow panellists: "I love that the acts are homegrown and they did something special for this show."
Fans took to social media to slam the comment, recalling American star Loren as the first golden buzzer of the series.
Singer Loren is the voice behind the anthem Never Enough from global hit movie The Greatest Showman.
However, she didn't feature in the film, with actress Rebecca Ferguson miming to the track.
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She has already released an EP in her home country and has even duetted with singing legends Michael Buble and Andrea Bocelli.
Yet despite spending much of his time in America — and being obsessed with The Greatest Showman — judge Simon Cowell was oblivious when she walked onstage.
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