BGT: Ant and Dec award their Golden Buzzer to comedy singer Jon Courtenay

Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly awarded their Golden Buzzer to comedy singer Jon Courtenay during Saturday’s Britain’s Got Talent.

Following an emotional audition which saw him pay tribute to his two sons, the Manchester performer earned a place in the live semi-finals.

The second week of auditions came as Dec also wowed the audience by completing a hilarious Maltester challenge, which saw him eat the chocolate after it was slid along the edge of a tape measure.

Jon won over the panel after performing a comedic song about his dream of winning the show, after years of honing his craft.

In particular he also paid tributes to his two sons, who encouraged him to audition for the show.

After a thunderous reaction from the audience Jon was joined by his sons on-stage, with Amanda Holden praising: ‘Jon you’ve made me fall to bits, I just saw a man who made all his dreams come true.’

David Walliams added: ‘It’s so winning wasn’t it, my goodness me you made the whole audience fall in love with you.’

Alesha Dixon agreed that the audition ‘moved her to tears,’ while Simon Cowell said he ‘wanted him to do well.’

But it was Ant and Dec who cemented Jon’s place in the live shows, rushing to press the Golden Buzzer, to his clear disbelief.

Ahead of filming for the auditions, Ant and Dec took to Instagram to share a hilarious backstage video with a fun chocolate theme.

In the clip, Dec was tasked with catching a Malteser being rolled towards his mouth on the edge of a tape measure several metres long.

Sadly their first attempt didn’t go to plan, with the chocolate narrowly messing Dec’s mouth, in a moment they memed with the help of Simon and Garfunkel’s The Sound Of Silence.

But on their second attempt – and with a few BGT-themed detours – the chocolate did manage to reach Dec’s mouth, earning a thrilled reaction from the audience watching.

The second weeks of auditions featured another of array of different acts, including plenty of daredevils leaving the crowd on the edge of their seats.

Leading the pack was the magic military man James Stott, who won over the panel with an explosive audition.

With five plungers, James used his military skills to guess which ones were not filled with explosives, and at one point even risked his life by placing it in his mouth.

Luckily he escaped the challenge unharmed, and Simon praised him for his ‘incredible showmanship,’ earning him a spot in the next round. 

Jack Price also won over the panel with his hear-stopping motorbike performance, which featured an array of dangerous stunts, and even left David gasping for breath.

Wesley Williams also wowed the judges with his own daring display, vowing to break the world record by riding the world’s tallest unicycle.

Placing himself at the top, the Florida native rode the cycle which was a staggering 22 feet high, and left the entire audience stunned into silence, after host Declan Donnelly warned them to hold applause until the attempt was over.

Despite a shaky start, Wesley managed to ride the unicycle from a staggering height, and let out a cry of relief once he returned to the nearby ladder. 

Gospel choir Shalom Chorale took to the stage with an awe-inspiring rendition of Stormzy’s Blinded By Your Grace, quickly earning them a spot in the next round.

Street dancing troup Mini Beez delighted the judges with their energetic routine, while Irish magician Aidan McCann left the panel spellbound despite being just 10 years old.

Beth Porch, 25, had already earned the panel’s respect even before her audition began, revealing she worked as an NHS nurse who sang to children at Great Ormond Street Hospital.

Her emotional song, titled You Taught Me What Love Is, was inspired by her experiences over five years on the cancer ward at the London hospital, and has since been released as a single to raise money for NHS charities.

Beth has since returned to her nursing job on the frontline in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, having filmed her audition back in January months before the lockdown. 

Alesha was particularly moved by the audition, saying: ‘I just want to say thank you so much, hearing what you do puts everything into perspective, I was thinking about my whole children I was choked up the whole time.’

David added: ‘We say on this show you’ve got two minutes to change your life, but you’ve touched all our lives with that song. It was truly staggeringly beautiful and you delivered it perfectly.’

Amanda praised: ‘You have such a difficult job I don’t know where you find the strength totally admire you, but also have this kind of taken it’s god given.’

BGT filmed their auditions earlier this year before the COVID-19 lockdown, and it has since been confirmed that the live shows will be postponed until later this year.

Britain’s Got Talent continues next Saturday at 8pm on ITV.