After acing the audience vote

Lost Voice Guy Lee Ridley has made it to the finals of  Britain's Got Talent.

The stand-up, who is unable to speak as a result of complications of cerebral palsy, made it through on the firs live semi-final of the ITV talent show tonight. 

 He automatically made it through after scoring the most votes from the viewing audience.

Using the iPad he uses to communicate, he said: ‘This is the best I have felt in a very long time. In fact I feel more special than usual.’

In a change from previous years, judges Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden, Alesha Dixon and David Walliams were given the power to decide who reached the final out of the second and third ranked performers.

And they chose wartime-themed singing group The D-Day Darlings over illusionist Maddox Dixon.

Ridley, who won the BBC Radio New Comedy Award in 2014, previously said: ‘My dream is to win Britain’s Got Talent, not only for myself but for everyone who has supported me so far. It’d mean a lot to make my family and friends proud of me. 

‘But, most of all, I also want to become best mates with Ant and Dec. If I won the £250,000 prize money, I’d get a Geordie accent for my iPad.’

Tonight's show was blacked out for about ten minutes soon after it started, which was blamed on storms in London. Instead of the live acts, viewers at home watched a highlight package from the auditions.

Click here to find out which other comedians who have made it through to the live semi-final stage of Britain’s Got Talent.

Published: 28 May 2018