Anthony McPartlin has shared his honest thoughts on Susan Boyle's first Britain's Got Talent audition, admitting he wasn't as impressed as many others were at the time.
Susan, now 65, appeared on the third series of the ITV show in 2009. Her first audition went viral almost overnight, turning her into a global star. She has since become one of the most famous acts to emerge from the show and remains a well-known figure in the UK.
However, while her audition gained millions of views on YouTube and made her a star in the USA, Anthony admitted he did not initially think it was that “remarkable”. Speaking on the podcast he co-hosts with Declan Donnelly, he explained that this was because of the number of impressive auditions they had already seen that day.
Anthony's Revelation
Anthony, 50, said it was only after watching the audition back later that he realised the significance of what he had witnessed. He answered a listener's question about what was going through his and Declan's minds at the time.
He said: “What was going through our minds? After that audition went out and it went HUGE that episode, it blew up everywhere.
“It was massive on YouTube, it was huge in the states. Susan Boyle became a huge stare in the states just from that one first audition going out on Britain’s Got Talent.
“On the day of that audition I don’t really remember it being remarkable. Not as remarkable as when I watched it back and you saw the judges’ reactions and the audience’s reactions. It was a good audition, but we’d seen a lot of good auditions that day.”
Declan's Perspective
Adding to his answer, Declan said what made the moment even more special was that they were only in Scotland for one day of Britain's Got Talent auditions. As a result, they were trying to get through as many contestants as possible.
He added that Susan's performance was unexpected for another reason, explaining: “We were only in Scotland for one day doing auditions. So, we were racing through everybody trying to get them done.
“It was a surprising audition because none of us expected the lady, in how she looked and how she was going on, to come out and sing like that. Which again was a fantastic example of never judging a book by its cover. You can always be surprised.”
Susan's Recent Struggles
Anthony and Declan's comments come weeks after Susan attempted to make a comeback following health struggles when she appeared at the TRNSMT Festival in June.
In 2022, she tragically suffered a stroke, leaving her unable to sing or speak before undergoing rehabilitation. She later appeared in the crowd to support fellow Scot Lewis Capaldi on stage. Speaking to the Daily Record, she said: “It's good to give him some extra support.”
She later posted her support for Scotland's World Cup team ahead of one of their matches in the recently finished World Cup.
