Britain’s Got Talent star Alesha Dixon addresses David Walliams exit as he’s replaced by Bruno Tonioli
Britain’s Got Talent star Alesha Dixon addresses David Walliams exit as he’s replaced by Bruno Tonioli
“I love you very much and will miss you dearly.”
Alesha Dixon has shared a farewell message for David Walliams, after the confirmation that he’s left Britain’s Got Talent.
Speculation about Walliams potentially leaving the show first broke late last year, after he was recorded making disparaging comments about contestants while acting as a judge on the show during filming of the 2020 series. In an apology, he noted making “disrespectful comments… during breaks in filming.”
Former Strictly Come Dancing judge Bruno Tonioli has joined the Britain’s Got Talent judging panel for 2023 alongside Alesha, Simon Cowell, and Amanda Holden.
Related: Strictly star Craig Revel Horwood addresses Bruno Tonioli Britain’s Got Talent rumours
Dixon and Walliams both joined the show in 2012 and spent a decade on the panel together.
Sharing a photo of the two of them backstage, she wrote on her Instagram Stories: “Thank you [David] for an amazing 10 years on BGT. I love you very much and will miss you dearly.”
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Prior to Tonioli’s appointment but after reports that Walliams’ future was up in the air, Holden shared her hopes that the judging panel for 2023 would still include the comedian, saying: “I would like to see the judging panel look like it did before. I think we’re a great team, we’re a family.”
However, her colleague Cowell added: “I think for me, the most important thing – and I had this conversation the other day. It’s always about the talent.
“If you don’t have great talent, you don’t have a show. That’s all I care about.”
Now, though, experienced reality TV judge Bruno Tonioli will fill Walliams’ shoes. He’s best known for his long stints on Strictly Come Dancing and its US counterpart Dancing with the Stars.
An audience member at BGT’s first live auditions captured Tonioli’s introduction, as he told an enthusiastic crowd: “Thank you very much. I am thrilled to be here.”
Tonioli also added that he’d been hoping for a chance to work with Cowell, explaining: “He’s teased me with this for years. Years and years and years, and I tell you, honestly, I’m thrilled to be here.”
