A choir initially put together by Jeremy Clarkson has been named the 2026 winner of Britain’s Got Talent.
The Hawkstone Farmers’ Choir was set up by the TV presenter to support farmers around his farm in Chadlington, Oxfordshire, with their mental health.
After the group’s win was announced, choir member Katryna Shell told presenters Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly: “We are the first ever choir to have won [the ITV talent show].
“This is for all the farmers out there, for anybody that’s struggling, it’s not a taboo subject, if you’re not OK, speak up, this is for the farmers.”
Before their performance, the choir members described Clarkson, who was in the audience for the live final, as their “biggest cheerleader” and added they “couldn’t thank him enough”.
Judge Simon Cowell said he had questioned their decision to perform an original song but told them “it paid off”, calling it “absolutely stunning”, “heartfelt” and “joyous”.
They will receive a £250,000 cash prize and the opportunity to perform at the annual Royal Variety Performance.
Fellow judge Amanda Holden was brought to tears.
She told them: “You’ve made me cry again, I couldn’t be prouder of you, the harmonising was beautiful and watching the changing seasons behind you, and really thinking about every second that you spend sowing dreams into that earth, which is one of the beautiful lines of that song.”
After the choir won the public vote in the semi-final on 23 May, Ben Chick, a farmer based in Sixpenny Handley, Dorset, said performing that day “was the most exhilarating experience”.
He said waiting to find out if they had got through to the final was tense and it “really does mean the world to us”.
The choir’s conductor Lizzie Dean, from Milton Keynes, told the BBC the choir went to a nearby pub in Hammersmith after the final show.
“We just continued celebrating there,” she said.
“Jeremy (Clarkson) turned up, Amanda [Holden] turned up… we had a few pints.
“It was so lovely to see him [Jeremy]. He was quite emotional. He was so genuinely happy for us – it all just feels like a dream.
“We still can’t believe it. It’s crazy.”
In Saturday’s final, dog act Anastasiia and Salsa came third, while drone display team Celestial finished second.
Teenage magician Rafferty Coope, from Hampshire, came fifth after also making it to the last round.
Coope, was initially given a fast track to the semi-final show after judge KSI pressed his golden buzzer.
His first performance had been a combination of music and magic based on the Journey anthem Don’t Stop Believin’.
By BBC News
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