Ant and Dec hosted the Britain’s Got Talent 2026 final but viewers of the ITV show were divided over the winner
The winner of Britain’s Got Talent 2026 has been revealed following months of auditions and live semi-final shows.
Following an evening of fierce competition before judges Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden, Alesha Dixon and KSI, presenters Ant and Dec declared that Hawkstone Farmers’ Choir – initially established by Jeremy Clarkson who was watching from the audience – had secured victory. They defeated Anastasiia and Salsa who came third and Celestial who finished as runners-up.
Ten acts performed on stage on Saturday, 30 May for the live final. The remaining finalists included golden buzzer recipients Sonny Green (spoken poet), Matty Juniosa (singer), LMA (dance group) and Liqei Yang (fire juggler). They were joined by public vote winners – Fabian Fox (magician), Ted Hill (comedian) and Rafferty Coope (magician).
Upon being named the 19th Britain’s Got Talent champion, the choir received £250,000 and an opportunity to appear at the Royal Variety Performance.
They said: “We are the first choir to have won BGT,” while dedicating their victory to farmers nationwide, particularly those experiencing difficulties, reports the Daily Star.
Viewers expressed mixed reactions on social media platform X. One wrote: “A choir finally won!” Another stated: “Fantastic!” A third posted: “Massive congratulations to Hawkstone Farmers Choir. Well deserved.” Someone else remarked: “The most deserving of winners. They are what this country is all about. Support our British farmers!”
However, not everyone was satisfied, with one viewer commenting: “Anastasiia and Salsa were my winners.” Another wrote: “Matty was robbed! As was the Liverpool dancers. Shocking results !!” While a further viewer stated: “Sonny Green was robbed.”
Others called it a “fix” with one saying: “The Jeremy Clarkson Hawkstone Lager Farmers Choir win – What a total fix!!!.. Clarkson literally made the public vote them to win. He promised everyone who voted for them a “free pint.”
Hawkstone Farmers’ Choir join a distinguished line of former champions, including Paul Potts, Diversity and Ashleigh and Pudsey. Last year’s victor was illusionist Harry Moulding. For his closing performance, Harry left the judges spellbound with an array of close-up card tricks in the studio, before raising the stakes in a pre-recorded skydiving segment, where he continued his illusion while airborne.
Following his victory, the Blackpool-born performer faced accusations of the show being fixed. However, the emerging talent fought back against those who questioned his act.
He told Yahoo News: “About the ‘fixed’ allegations – if you want to call it that – first and foremost, thank you so much to everyone for giving their opinions. Just the simple fact that people have their own opinions of magic is great in itself.
“Ultimately, with magic, almost the biggest compliment to a magician is where someone doesn’t know how they don’t know how it’s done! So often the only explanation for the method they can think of is, ‘Oh, well, it must be a fix, because if not, I just can’t fathom how that would have happened.’”
Britain’s Got Talent is available to watch on ITVX
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