A Keynsham clown left Britain's Got Talent (BGT) viewers complaining to Ofcom after giving judge Simon Cowell a fright. Fans of the televised talent competition were left screaming as The Clown from Keynsham's FEAR Scream Park made a brief appearance during Saturday night's episode (April 29).
Despite pulling off some incredible magic tricks, The Clown was booted off stage pretty quickly as a result of Simon's coulrophobia, or fear of clowns, meaning he didn't get the desired Golden Buzzer. A number of viewers complained to Ofcom over The Clown's unexpected, pre-watershed appearance.
Whilst some viewers were left feeling unsettled, others were impressed, and wanted to see more of FEAR Scream Park's talent show offering. Simon's phobia of clowns is well-known, with the music mogul having claimed that he started the killer clown fad of 2016 after his worst fear was made known to the public on America's Got Talent (AGT) that year.
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Simon and his fellow AGT judges hosted circus clown Richie the Barber, and were left surprised when the contestant appeared on stage with clown makeup tattooed on his face. Once filming was over, Simon got into his Rolls-Royce to go home, only to find that the driver was a "creepy clown".
"So I'm responsible," he told The Sun of the killer clown craze in 2016. "I'm scared - I didn't like them when I was a kid. They're creepy."
Simon was left visibly unnerved by The Clown's performance on BGT last week, with his personal phobia stopping the Keynsham contestant from progressing to the next round, despite his obvious talent and the warm reception from the audience. A spokesperson for FEAR Scream Park, which has been named as the UK's Best Scream Park twice, said: "We’re disappointed that Simon couldn’t appreciate the talent and hard work that went into creating our clown.
"But we understand that some people have fears that are difficult to overcome."
According to FEAR Scream Park, the team behind The Clown "spent months perfecting the act and designing the character". The West Country attraction is no stranger to pushing the boundaries of fear and horror, and The Clown will feature in its live and immersive event, which will be open on select dates in October.
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