Simon Cowell is about to get a makeover on Britain’s Got Talent – and he’s starting to resemble his co-judge, David Walliams.
As the other judges arrived at this week’s London auditions, it was soon clear Simon was running late. David quickly decided to invite his mum Kathleen up on stage.
Speaking to the audience and his fellow judges Amanda Holden and Alesha Dixon, David said, “I think we really need someone to fill that seat. Actually my mother is here today, she’s going to be Simon Cowell if she doesn’t mind. Come on mum!”
Kathleen and David with fellow judges Alesha and Amanda (seated).
And Kathleen proved to be quite a match for hard-nosed Simon. She wasn’t afraid to use her buzzer on a number of acts, giving straight talking, no-nonsense critiques.
In fact it took several acts before Kathleen decided not to use her buzzer and actually put someone through to the next round.
Speaking off camera about his Mum’s special guest appearance David thought she was a natural.
“I was really hoping she would use Simon’s Golden Buzzer in his absence. She was great with her critique and actually some of the audience thought it was Simon!” comedian David said following the show, which screens here on Saturday.
Simon’s replacement, Kathleen, was a natural.
Photo: Tom Dymond
But he admits having his mum working alongside him was “like having a really odd dream”.
“When you have dreams things are not in their rightful place, so I was like, ‘What is my mum doing sitting in Simon Cowell’s chair on Britain’s Got Talent?’.
“The hardest thing is to be critical because everyone wants to be liked. But my mum actually didn’t mind buzzing people off. She wasn’t nasty, she just said it how it was.”
Fellow judge Amanda agreed, saying that Kathleen proved to be a sterner judge than her son.
“Kathleen is quite hardcore! David is quite a wuss about pressing his buzzer, he’s always last and he never says no. But Kathleen, she pressed hers first once, I was like, ‘Woah!’. She was like, ‘Well no, I just don’t think the audience warmed to you!’. She is basically David in a dress and went down like a house on fire. I can see a future for her.”
Britain’s Got Talent, TV One on Saturdays at 7.30pm
