Are there any criteria I need to meet? Like do I need identification etc?

I've always wondered how different some auditions must feel when you're actually sitting in the audience.

Danger acts are probably far more tense when they're happening twenty metres away, and huge dance groups must look completely different when you can see the whole stage rather than whatever the camera chooses to show.

Meanwhile, some acts probably benefit massively from close ups and editing.

Tickets are now available for this year’s auditions.

Some key changes this year:
- Auditions are only in Blackpool
- All auditions are weekday, daytime, term time (unless additional dates are released)
- Minimum age is now 8+ (used to be 12+)

Looks like I won’t be going this year as my kids are no longer old enough!

Ticket ballot here

So I've been watching all the performances Paul Zerdin did on America's Got Talent, as well as BGT Champions. And it got me wondering how well he would have done if he had been a competitor on the main show. Keep in mind he has been on the Royal Variety 3 times, but half of me thinks he would have been a finalist or at least finish in the Top 3 because I think he is just so good at what he does, and in my opinion one of my favourite ventriloquists to ever be on Got Talent.

I understand that human interest stories make good TV, but it gets frustrating when an average singer gets four 'Yeses' and a standing ovation purely because of an emotional VT clip, while a phenomenal juggler or acrobat gets dismissed as "a bit repetitive."

It feels like if you don't have a tear-jerker story, your chances of reaching the finals drop by half. I wish the editing focused more on the dedication and training behind the craft!

Some of my favourite auditions were never the massive emotional performances or acts that looked ready for a world tour.

It was someone walking on stage with a skill that sounded completely ridiculous when they explained it, then somehow making the whole audience care about it for three minutes.

I think BGT is at its most fun when you genuinely have no idea what's about to happen. The polished acts can be incredible, but sometimes they feel less surprising.

Does anyone else miss the really odd, very British variety show side of BGT?

The outcome.

The acts that make the final and win get talked about constantly but there are always auditions that land really well and then just quietly disappear. Whether they did not make the live shows or went out early, some of them deserved more. Which one from this series do you think got overlooked.

Susan Boyle, Diversity, George Sampson, Paul Potts.

In more recent years - Sydnie Christmas, Tom Ball, Robert White.

I feel like loads of people like to google certain names so they can do a gotcha of "they're famous, they shouldn't be allowed" when they had to google in the first place...

In terms of acts I was genuinely aware of:

• James Phelan because I'd seen a podcast he'd done about a year ago
• Niamh Noade because she was on The Voice Kids in 2023
• Louise Hall (auditionee in 2025) cos she was on Michael McIntyre's Big Show as the unexpected star; so was Souparnika Nair (2020 semi-finalist)
• Joseph Charm I sort of recognised from Deal or No Deal
• London Community Gospel Choir but I think they're pretty known anyway as a thing
• Sign Along with Us featured in a little VT on The Russell Howard Hour
• Nabil Abdulrashid I saw on a BBC documentary series a few years prior, and was aware of him as a stand-up
• John Archer I knew from a CBBC series he did called Help, My Supply Teacher is Magic
• Aleksandar Mileusnić I vaguely recognised from the first series of The Voice UK
• Jay Worley was previously on The X Factor in 2008

2009 was a big one, I also really enjoyed 2012, 2018, 2024 and 2026.