BGT fans spot major 'coincidence' between dancer and former winner George Sampson
A dancer from Scotland has caused a splash among Britain's Got Talent viewers following his routine on Sunday evening.
BGT: Contestant Leightonjay Halliday is dances in water
Britain's Got Talent returned on Sunday evening (May 26) for the final auditions before the live semi-finals begin. But during the latest instalment of the ITV show some fans were left feeling "short-changed".
Ant and Dec will host the week-long BGT semi-finals from Monday, May 27 until Friday, May 31 with every live show set to air from 8pm on ITV1 and ITVX.
The winner will be crowned in the BGT final on June 2 and will bag a place to show off their talent at the Royal Variety Performance plus they will take home a cash prize of £250,000.
Hoping to impress the judges during Sunday's episode was Leightonjay Halliday. The 23-year-old dancer from Douglas, Scotland, auditioned in Manchester and had a very sweet reason for wanting to take part in the competition.
Bruno Tonioli asked Leightonjay what made him decide to go on the ITV show, and he replied: "My main goal is to inspire younger dancers to never give up."
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Getting emotional he added: "I would love to start my own company to nurture young kids to know they can be authentically themselves."
Bruno spurred the dancer on and reassured him that all the judges, including Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden, and Alesha Dixon were supporting him. "Go for it, relax, and enjoy", Bruno exclaimed.
Leightonjay began dancing to Kodi Lee's song Change and stepped in a very shallow pool of water causing a splash as swirled his way through his carefully put-together routine.
When his performance ended, Leightonjay received a standing ovation from all the judges before Simon pointed out a coincidence.
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Simon said: "You'll be really interested to here this story. That music was sang by somebody that came on to our American show who is blind and autistic, and he wrote that song.
"He is going to be so blown away when I call him and say 'someone has just done the most unbelievably good audition to your song."
Despite Leightonjay's dance routine impressing the judges and audience, Britain's Got Talent viewers wasted no time in taking to social media to compare the dance with that of former winner George Sampson.
In 2008, George was only 14 years old when he was crowned winner of the reality show. The breakdancer did a routine to the Mint Royale track Singin' in the Rain where he wore a black and white outfit and danced in a shallow pool of water.
Taking to X, formly known as Twitter, @SamFarmer2 stated: "Similar to George Sampson’s winning routine #BGT."
@LukeHayesII1 exclaimed: "Fake George Sampson #BGT", while @d_a_v_e_m_a chimed in with: "George Sampson 2.0 #bgt."
"George Sampson 2.0 it’s been done #bgt", added @bvdsteel. While @MrTLong pointed out: "I’m getting a George Sampson vibe with this Scottish Bloke #BGT."
@humbug83 wrote: "The boy dancing in water reminded me of George Sampson dancing in water #BGT". While @philm2244 asked: "Does he know George Sampson? Dancing in the rain.#BGT."
Britain's Got Talent returns tomorrow night at 8pm on ITV and ITVX