Britain’s Got Talent Stars Embroiled in Crime Scandals
APPEARING on Britain’s Got Talent is supposed to be the start of a glittering career. Not to mention a chance to perform in front of the royal family at the Royal Variety Show – and the ultimate prize of £250,000.
But for a few, it also means the nation is watching when they drop to their lowest point and get carted off to jail. From £3m fraud schemes to drug scandals and faking cancer, the life of some of the stars, after the applause of the BGT audience has faded, has taken a turn for the worse. Others, however, have seen it as a fresh start – giving them a platform to show how they have turned their life around after a stint inside.
As this year’s crop of wannabes prepare to battle it out in Sunday’s grand final, we have a look at the contestants who have found themselves on the wrong side of the law.
Singer Olivia Archbold, now 27, was tipped to become the next Charlotte Church after appearing on BGT in 2010, aged just 14. But seven years later she was up in court alongside her then boyfriend, Alex Nash, for helping him run a dark web drugs racket which saw them mail cannabis-laced sweets across the UK.
Liam Collins made it to the semi-finals in 2009 as one half of the comedy dance duo Faces of Disco. Instead of it being the start of a glittering career in showbiz, he was jailed a decade later for his part in a multi-million pound Ponzi-style scam.
Last year, mum-of-two Claire Connolly, 34, posed as a hopeful for the show to get her daughter Tia, 15, an audition spot. During the interview section of the auditions, she admitted to having been jailed for a stash of cannabis worth £6,000 in her home in Accrington, Lancashire.
Comedian Axel Blake, who won the show in 2022, spent time inside as a teenager after falling in with the wrong crowd.
Theatre events organiser James Edgington, 39, fell foul of the law when he illegally sold on complimentary tickets. He had made the semi-finals of BGT in 2010, duetting with his father, Graham.
Comedian Nabil Abdulrashid, 38, bagged Alesha Dixon’s golden buzzer in 2020 for his hilarious gags. It was a world away from his life in 2005 when he was sentenced to three years in prison for drug offences.
Opera singer Christopher Stone wowed judges and audiences in 2010 with his singing voice – landing a place in the final. Instead of finding fame in the world of theatre, Stone went on to be probed by police and lie about having cancer in 2017.
These are just some of the Britain’s Got Talent stars who have found themselves entangled in crime scandals, showing that fame on the show does not always lead to a fairy-tale ending.