14 DAY TRIAL // As Britain’s independent media regulator Ofcom is still investigating what happened with Susan Boyle on the latest edition of Britain’s Got Talent, more and more former contestants are stepping up to reveal what really goes on when the cameras are not rolling. They paint a picture of exploitation and utmost humiliation, all done for the sake of the ratings and getting a thrill with the viewers, in what is said to be a shameless money-making machine that would scoop to anything for an extra buck.
Just this season, creator and judge Simon Cowell made an estimated £1.5 million from text messages alone, with an equal amount believed to have disappeared in the pockets of ITV and the producers. If what former finalist Niki Evans is telling the Daily Mail is true, then they would do anything to get this kind of reaction from the public, including openly exploiting and constantly humiliating the contestants.
The latest season of BGT had an audience of 19 million in the final editions, and most of these people even went through the trouble of voting for the favorite contestant. This happened, Evans says, because producers pressed all the right buttons to get this reaction, just like in happened in her case when she went on the show two years ago. When her father died while she was still on BGT, the producers went to extreme lengths to exploit this to their advantage, the singer is now telling the Mail.
“They spent three hours literally shouting at me to sing ‘Dance With My Father Again’ live on the show, with the instruction to cry in the middle of it. I was in floods of tears, saying: ‘You can’t make me do this. It’s sick.’ I would have completely broken down on live television, in front of millions of people, if I’d sung it – but that was what they wanted.” the 36-year-old singer reveals.
Her words seem to corroborate stories previously circulated in the media, especially in the aftermath of Susan Boyle’s breakdown and subsequent admission to The Priory mental health clinic. No one really cares about what happens to the people who appear on stage in front of millions, no matter whether they’re grown-ups or 10-year-olds as it happened this year. The only thing that counts is that the show turns out as a real tearjerker because only this gets people voting and, implicitly, spending money.
“At the end of the day, it’s all about making money, encouraging the public to vote. It isn’t about talent or the people taking part. I don’t think Simon [Cowell] knows half of what is going on, even though it is his show. It was intimidation of the worst kind, and I think people ought to know what goes on behind the closed doors. The aim is to make your story as emotional and tear-jerking as possible, and with me they would spend up to two or three hours trying to make me cry. There was an agenda every week, and they knew what they wanted you to say – it is all manipulated.” Evans recalls of her time on the show.
As it happens, she’s not the only one to claim that contestants are treated like garbage just for the sake of the ratings. Other former aspiring stars have also opened up about their experience on Britain’s Got Talent and they paint a similar picture of the show that promises the fulfillment of a dream for the most talented. For more on this, please see here.