Britain’s Got Talent has announced a major format change to the 2023 series as David Walliams departs the judging panel.
The ITV show will be kicking off this coming year with a fresh face on the panel as well as a tweak to help one act could make it onto the stage.
ITV has announced that the public can now secretly nominate an act and put them forward for the opportunity to audition in front of the judges.
It's the first of many shake-ups since reports David Walliams is quitting the judging panel after 10 years.
Walliams, 51, was reported to have quit the show following remarks he made while recording in 2020, but he has yet to confirm he will leave after 10 years, leaving his BGT future in doubt.
He is expected to stand down after it emerged he called an elderly contestant a “c***” several times while off-air in January 2020 as he was filming auditions at the London Palladium.
The children’s author also said of a young female contestant: “She’s like the slightly boring girl you meet in the pub that thinks you want to f*** them, but you don’t… It’s the last thing on your mind, but she’s like, ‘Yep, I bet you do!’”
The comments were picked up on the show’s microphones and revealed last month.
A BGT spokesperson told The Mirror: “The judging panel for 2023 will be announced in due course.”
Yet it has been confirmed that David will appear on the talent show’s upcoming Christmas special, which will pit the world’s best magicians against one another.
The long-running ITV show hopes to find The Ultimate Magician among the mesmerising acts set to take the stage in a one-off spectacular.
The Christmas special will include magicians familiar to fans as acts from previous instalments on the show have been invited back to compete to win a £50,000 cash prize.
However, the show is set to look slightly different as beloved hosts Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly will be absent, with Stephen Mulhern stepping into their shoes.
Meanwhile on the judging panel, Simon Cowell will similarly miss the special due to filming commitments in the US, but keeping his seat on the judging panel warm is magician Penn Jillette.
The BAFTA and Olivier nominated star will be joining the judging panel alongside Amanda Holden, Alesha Dixon and David.
