simon cowell, this morning

Simon Cowell shuts down BGT “set-up” claims ITV

Britain’s Got Talent judge Simon Cowell has shut down claims that Max Fox’s audition was a set-up, with the judge declaring that he would take a lie detector test to prove it.

Max secured his passage to the live semi-finals on Saturday (19 April) in unconventional fashion, with the singer being granted permission to perform despite being an audience member instead of an act.

Despite wowing the panel with his rendition of Frank Sinatra’s ‘My Way’, which saw him awarded a golden buzzer, Fox was faced with several accusations from fans that the audition was fixed, a claim that he denied.

Simon echoed these sentiments during an appearance on This Morning on Friday, sharing: “On my life, I swear to God that was not a set up. I honestly thought, ‘Okay, someone has put him there’ and I said to the producers, ‘Come on, it’s a set up right?’

“I just thought we’d never show it but he wants to sing in front of me and I thought, ‘Why not, just let him do it’. I was laughing so much when the golden buzzer happened. I said, ‘No one is going to believe this… They are going to think it was set up.'”

Simon, who was joined by fellow judge Bruno Tonioli, jokingly remarked that he would “take a lie detector test on live TV” to get to the bottom of the matter, with Bruno adding that the unpredictability of the show is what provides “so much energy”.

Max Fox previously addressed the claims himself during his own appearance on This Morning earlier this week. He explained to Josie Gibson and Andi Peters: “The day before, I got some free tickets for the auditions – three rows back from the panel.

simon cowell, bruno tonioli, this morning

ITV
“It was just in the moment – there were some old dears behind me and I asked them if I should ask Simon if I can sing. It wasn’t a set-up. There’s no way of me being able to physically prove it, but I get [the accusations].”

“There are so many reality shows where storylines are set up, but this wasn’t one and that’s all I can say,” he continued, with Peters corroborating Fox’s story by sharing that a friend – who works at BGT – had said the audition wasn’t a set-up.

Britain’s Got Talent airs on ITV1 and ITVX.