Britain's Got Talent series 16

The sixteenth series of British talent competition programme Britain's Got Talent was broadcast on ITV, from 15 April to 4 June 2023. Following the previous series, David Walliams resigned from the programme in the wake of criticism to comments he had made of contestants during the 2020 series,^[1][2] leading to him being replaced by Bruno Tonioli in January 2023.^[3][4][5] During auditions, Cowell allowed a change to the Golden Buzzer format, granting more being given than in previous series.

The sixteenth series was won by comedian Viggo Venn, with dancer Lillianna Clifton finishing in second place, and magician Cillian O’Connor placing third. During its broadcast, the series averaged 5.98 million viewers. Venn became just the 2nd international act, following Hungary’s Attraction over a decade ago, to win Britain’s Got Talent in sixteen series. Additionally, Venn was the third consecutive comedy act to take the first place prize, following Jon Courtenay and Axel Blake. Britain’s Got Talent series 16 would also be the first time that two acts outside of the United Kingdom would place in the top-3, Venn and O’Connor hailed from Norway and the Republic of Ireland, respectively.

Following the conclusion of the previous series, ITV announced that the show would return for a sixteenth series.^[6][7] However, David Walliams was facing an uncertain future with the programme after ten series,^[8] after it emerged he was facing criticism for comments he had made of contestants that had been poorly received by viewers; Walliams later resigned when it became clear the criticism couldn't be ignored.^[1] Because of his departure, ITV worked to find a replacement, and signed on former Strictly Come Dancing and current Dancing with the Stars judge Bruno Tonioli in January 2023 to join with Cowell and the other judges.^[3][9][10]

Cowell also announced that month of a change in format, revealing that he had given the audience the right to call for a Golden Buzzer for a contestant they felt deserved it, noting that there had been no set rules regarding the buzzer format since it was first introduced.^[11] Tonioli also gave an extra Golden Buzzer himself, but by accident after doing so halfway through a contestant's act; something which had never been done before within the Got Talent franchise itself.^[12]

Color key:

  Winner |   Runner-up |   Third Place |   Semi-finalist

Judges' Wildcard Finalist | Golden Buzzer Audition

• ^1 During the fourth semi-final, Noodle was revealed to be series 15 finalist Tom Ball. Ball's identity was kept a secret by production staff throughout the series - all details listed here pertain to his unveiling as the voice of Noodle in the semi-final.

Buzzed out | Judges' vote |   Won the Public's Vote |   Won the Judges' Vote

  Lost Judges' Vote |   Eliminated

Prior to the beginning of the live shows, the semi-finalists were decided following a deliberation stage at the London Palladium.

• Guest performance: Diversity

• Guest performance: The cast of We Will Rock You ("Don't Stop Me Now"/"We Will Rock You"/"We Are the Champions")

Guest performance: James Arthur ("A Year Ago")

Guest performance: Axel Blake

Guest performance: The cast of The Wizard of Oz ("We're Off to See the Wizard"/"Over the Rainbow"/"If I Only Had a Brain"/"The Merry Old Land of Oz")

• ^2 Due to the majority vote for Lillianna Clifton, Cowell's voting intention was not revealed.
• ^3 Tonikaku was later sent through to the final as the judges' wildcard.

Guest performance: Susan Boyle & the cast of Les Misérables ("I Dreamed a Dream"/"Finale")