Bruno Tonioli reveals how he really landed his role in Britain’s Got Talent
BRUNO Tonioli has revealed how he really bagged his role on Britain’s Got Talent.
The Sun confirmed the former Strictly judge had replaced David Walliams on the ITV talent show back in January.
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Joining show boss Simon Cowell and longtime judges Alesha Dixon and Amanda Holden on the jury, the 67-year-old has now spoken openly about how he landed the gig.
Bruno, who was a Strictly judge for 18 years before officially retiring last year, told The Sun’s TV Mag: “Whatever you’ve read, it’s nonsense.
“The truth is I came back to play my wonderful number, my Christmas carol for Strictly, to say goodbye to everyone – because we’re all friends – and I had no idea about Britain’s Got Talent.
“On January 13th a meeting was called with ITV bosses and production etc, I got in and they said: Britain’s Got Talent. I said well it’s Simon, it’s Alesha, it’s Amanda, they’re all friends – of course if you want. I will do it.”
He continued: “They had to speak to Simon and then it happened a few days later and ten days later it was live and we were filming. It all happened so fast and it was amazing.
“The truth is years ago we had discussions because Simon and I have the same agent in America and some approaches were made, but at the time I was doing two seasons of Dancing With The Stars a year and it would have must be collided It was not feasible.
“So it was destiny, it was supposed to happen and bang, right in, we had a ball. It was so exciting.”
Since he joined the show, there have been numerous reports of tension between Bruno and the other judges.
But he insisted: “We all know each other. I’ve known Simon since the early 80’s, Alesha was with me at Strictly, I actually met Amanda through Simon and Amanda’s husband used to work in the music business when I worked there, so we all know each other.
“But then again you never know, chemistry won’t do it, you can know someone but on screen you could be absolutely horrible together. But fortunately they made me feel very, very comfortable.”
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Britain’s Got Talent opens tonight 15 April at 8pm on ITV1. TV Mag is available for free every Saturday only in The Sun.
