Britain’s Got Talent 2022 launches with 6.1million viewers as show returns after Covid cancellation

The Britain’s Got Talent 2022 series launched with an audience peak of 7.2million (Picture: Rex)

Britain’s Got Talent returned to ITV with an average of 6.1million viewers on Saturday night, the network has said.

Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden, Alesha Dixon, and David Walliams reclaimed their positions on the judging panel as the first batch of hopefuls stepped onto the stage to audition.

And it was a jam-packed episode, with The Greatest Showman singer Loren Allred receiving Amanda’s Golden Buzzer after her rendition of Never Enough and Declan Donnelly shedding a tear as two sisters surprised their dad on stage.

Viewers saw an array of acts from a comedic robot to death-defying scooter stunts performed by small children as the talent show aired after two years off-screen, but not everyone was happy and many complained about the lack of joke acts and red buzzers.

It’s been revealed that the TV audience peaked at 7.2million, which is lower than the 2020 series, which saw an average of 8.6million tune in.

Filming of the 15th series had been scheduled to begin last January, however, production was delayed as a result of the Covid pandemic and then postponed until 2022.

The Greatest Showman singer Loren Allred secured Amanda Holden’s Golden Buzzer (Picture: ITV)

Saturday’s launch episode saw Loren, 32, reveal that she was the voice behind the hit song Never Enough from 2018 musical film The Greatest Showman.

She admitted she was not known for the track as she was previously ‘more comfortable singing behind the scenes’, but now wanted to put a face to the song.

After performing a striking rendition of the song, the audience and judges appeared in awe, particularly Amanda.

More: Simon Cowell

The first episode also saw Titan the Robot secure four yeses after spraying water out of its mechanical eyes, causing Amanda and Alesha to hide under their desk.

Britain’s Got Talent continues on Sunday at 7.35pm on ITV.

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