Disability dance group secures golden buzzer from David Walliams on BGT

Born To Perform won over judge David Walliams on Britain’s Got Talent with their joyful dance securing his coveted golden buzzer.

The dance group, which features people with different disabilities, jumped for joy and rolled around in the golden glitter after Walliams pressed the buzzer which will see them go straight through to the competition’s live semi-final.

Ahead of their audition, a member of the troupe, who has autism, said: “We have a barrier but we want to break them barriers and show the whole world that life is an opportunity for people with disabilities.”

A memorable moment came when the Northampton group took to the stage, as one of the dancers held her hands over her face in excitement and disbelief at seeing judge Simon Cowell in the flesh.

Following their performance to You Can’t Stop The Beat from musical Hairspray, Cowell said: “I didn’t like it, I loved it.

He added: “I loved the fact that you were having such a great time, it was actually one of my favourite auditions I am going to be honest with you.”

The dance saw solo performances from some of the group members, who are aged between 14 and 24, and gymnastic moves which included cartwheels and the splits.

During the act, presenter Declan Donnelly said: “You can’t help but smile all the way through it.”

Judge Alesha Dixon said the group’s passion was “pouring out” during the act while Walliams only said he “absolutely loved it” before pressing his coveted golden buzzer.

Saturday night’s episode also saw impersonator Suzi Wild receive a standing ovation from all four judges after her impressions of the Queen, Lorraine Kelly and Janet Street-Porter had them in hysterics.

The 34-year-old, who also imitated Kirstie Allsopp and Gemma Collins, said her motivation for auditioning was because she has not seen someone who looks like her doing impersonations before.

A dangerous act came in the form of escapologist Andrew Basso, whose inspiration was magician Harry Houdini and his water torture cell act.

Holden joined him on stage, handcuffing both his hands together and restraining his ankles, before the 36-year-old was hung upside down in a locked cell of water and attempted to escape using just a paper clip.

The audience and judges began to panic after two minutes as the performer seemingly struggled to undo the lock, but after three minutes he escaped and the judges were wowed.

Meanwhile Hammerhand, from Hamberg in Germany, attempted to break the Guinness World Record of 122 coconuts broken with a hand in one minute.

The 62-year-old martial arts teacher managed to smash 60 coconuts in the time and was not put through to the next round of the competition.

Mary P opened the show with a surprise rendition of the Black Eyed Peas My Humps which judge Holden praised as keeping the Disney character Mary Poppins “relevant”.

The London Community Gospel Choir, who sang a compilation of The O’Jays Love Train and Anytime You Need A Friend by Mariah Carey, impressed Cowell.

Holden said the performance was like “drinking 20 Beroccas”, adding it was an “injection of life, love and energy”.

There was also a singer and guitarist called The Bin Busker who performed Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life hidden from inside a bin onstage, but he was ejected from the stage after receiving four buzzers from the judges.

Soul singer Mel Day, 77, who described himself as a “young old man”, sang Land Of 1,000 Dances by Don Bryant and wowed the judges.

Cowell said: “Timing is everything and maybe this is your time.”

The ITV talent show returned to screens this year or the first time after it was cancelled in 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Britain’s Got Talent continues on ITV.