Britain's Got Talent was accused of recycling its acts as a few of its contestants have been linked to Simon Cowell or have appeared on another TV show.
There have been 60 acts that have been shown this year and 15 of those have either been in a different Got Talent series, have a connection with music mogul Simon, or are already 'professionals' in their field, as reported by The Sun.
One source defended the talent and told the publication: "It would be unfair to say these contestants are household names. Some have had an element of success, but you’d still have to look them up to know who they are."
Another said: "Lockdown was tough for everyone. The entertainment industry was on pause for the last two years. So we shouldn’t punish these people for trying to better themselves and utilise every platform on offer to showcase their talent"
Contestants that have been used as examples include Loren Allred, 32, who is the voice of the hit track Never Enough from the movie The Greatest Showman.
Soul singer Mel Day, 77, also achieved chart success as the lead singer of J.A.L.N. Band in the US and UK with the 1976 song Disco Music (I Like It).
Titan the Robot is known by hosts Ant & Dec as he appeared on their show, Saturday Night Takeaway, last year, as well as Daybreak with Kate Garraway in 2010.
JD Anderson was also featured on Ant & Dec's quiz show Red or Black.
Strongman JD even auditioned for Simon on America's version of Got Talent.
Les Sancho, a dance group, appeared on the French version of Got Talent and even finished in third place after achieving the Golden Buzzer.
Strongman Tulga, magician Keiichi Iwasaki, magician Topas, dance troupe IMD Legion, Dancing dog act Amber and Nymeria and Temple London have also appeared on other versions of the show.
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A BGT spokesman told the publication: "All acts enter the competition with the hope of elevating their career to the highest level and help to reach massive new audiences which Britain’s Got Talent brings in.
"As we’re all aware, the pandemic affected so many lives, particularly those that work in the entertainment industry, and it is wrong to deny these people the opportunity to showcase their talents and entertain the nation, and ultimately perform in front of royalty at the Royal Variety Performance."
The spokesman went on to say that the competition series is 'open to everyone'.
Mirror have contacted ITV for comment.
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