The ITV show is making a huge change to the golden buzzer for the 2025 semi-finals, which these lucky acts have already been picked for.
Britain's Got Talent (BGT) got off to an exciting start in the audition rounds with golden buzzer acts wowing the judges. Now, a brand new twist has been announced for the 2025 live semi-finals.
The ITV contest has been shaking things up this year with a new four-month schedule that will see the semi-finals air live weekly on Saturday nights rather than across a full week as in previous years. On 16 April, another change for the semi-finals was revealed as Good Morning Britain's entertainment reporter Richard Arnold announced that the golden buzzer would return in the semi-finals.
Each of the judges — Simon Cowell, Alesha Dixon, Amanda Holden, Bruno Tonioli and stand-in KSI — as well as presenters Ant and Dec get to select a golden buzzer act each in the auditions (although Ant and Dec choose theirs together!). When the judges hit the giant golden buzzer, it automatically guarantees the contestant will perform in the live semi-finals of BGT in the months to come.
However, acts have another chance to be fast-tracked this year as the judges and hosts will be able to pick one semi-finalist for an extra golden buzzer to guarantee a place in the grand final.
Of course, golden buzzer acts are in with a good chance of winning the reality series. The winner of Britain's Got Talent banks £250,000 and the enviable spot performing on stage for King Charles at the Royal Variety Performance 2025. Singer Sydney Christmas, who won the 2024 series of the show, was Holden's golden buzzer act.
Dixon confessed the judges give the golden buzzers out freely now. She said on Loose Women in February: "We give them out like ice cream these days - you have a buzzer! You have a buzzer! The great thing is, we're all into different things, we love different things. I never regret it — I'm the kind of person, if I'm sitting there thinking about whether to press it, I choose not to. I only press it when my heart just feels alive and I'm like I've just got to do it."
New golden buzzer for 2025 semi-finals
BGT has been keen to shake up the excitement for the long-running series this year, and the latest change will see the return of the golden buzzer in the semi-finals for the first time. Each semi-final, an appointed judge will choose one of the eight acts for the golden buzzer, while the public vote chooses the other finalist.
Speaking on Good Morning Britain on 16 April, entertainment reporter Richard Arnold revealed the new show rule. He said: "This year, one judge or Ant and Dec will be allowed to use the buzzer during the semi-finals as well to give their chosen act a spot in the grand finale in May. The other acts will then face the public vote as usual."
Asked how the semi-finals golden buzzer would work, he clarified: "They get to press it just once. They're going to be fighting over that, yeah, they'll all get a chance to do it but it'll be a frenzy and there will be a lot of glitter cannons and a lot of confetti."
Viewers can look forward to five semi-finals, each including eight acts and ITV offered more information about how the golden buzzer will work.
A statement read: "In each of the five live semi-final rounds, either one judge or Ant and Dec will be appointed control of the new golden buzzer. As soon as they see a performance worthy of a place in the final, they will have just one opportunity to press it.
Judges Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden, Alesha Dixon and Bruno Tonioli as well as presenters Ant and Dec, will have just moments after each performance to make a decision which could change the course of an act’s BGT journey, making them one huge step closer to securing the £250,000 cash prize and a spot on the bill of the Royal Variety Performance."
With a new change spreading the usual week-long live semi-finals out over Saturday nights instead, the golden buzzer looks set to keep viewers glued to the series as it plays out into May.
The first semi-final is set to air on ITV on Saturday, 26 April at 7pm.
