Britain’s Got Talent: Who are the previous winners?

Britain's Got Talent has been a staple on UK television since 2007 with the talent show providing many memorable moments over the years.

Currently in its 17th series, X Factor creator and Sony Music executive Simon Cowell devised the show's format having been inspired by British variety talent shows Opportunity Knocks (1949-1990) and New Faces (1973-1988).

With £250,000 and a slot at the Royal Variety Performance on offer for the winner, Britain's Got Talent can be a life-changing experience and, ahead of Sunday's live final, we have recapped the previous champions.

Paul Potts (2007)

The first winner of Britain's Got Talent was opera singer Paul Potts, who was a manager at Carphone Warehouse at the time he decided to audition for the show.

He performed a spinetingling rendition of Giacomo Puccini's "Nessun dorma", receiving a standing ovation from the crowd in Wales, before performing main verses of Andrea Bocelli's "Time To Say Goodbye" in the semi-final.

Potts belted out "Nessun dorma" again in the final, winning the competition ahead of runner-up Connie Talbot.

George Sampson (2008)

Having failed in his audition for the 2007 series, street dancer George Sampson returned in 2008 and made it through to the semi-finals by dancing to "Rock This Party (Everybody Dance Now).

Sampson performed his arrangement of Mint Royale's big beat remix of "Singin' in the Rain" in both the semi-finals and final, winning the competition at the tender age of 14.

Diversity (2009)

Street dance troupe Diversity, a group consisting of four sets of siblings and eight other members, won the 2009 series after finishing ahead of singer Susan Boyle in second and saxophonist Julian Smith in third.

Diversity have performed several tours since and the leader of the group, Ashley Banjo, has been a judge on Got to Dance, Dance Dance Dance and Dancing on Ice.

Spelbound (2010)

Acrobatics group Spelbound amazed with their sensational performances in 2010, producing flips, jumps and nerve-jangling throws to the awe of the country.

With the members of the group aged between 12 and 25 at the time, they were the standout act of the series and have since gone on to perform at the London Olympics in 2012 among other big events.

Jai McDowall (2011)

Scottish singer–songwriter Jai McDowall won the 2011 series, performing "Anthem" from Chess in his audition, "Bring Me to Life" by Evanescence in the semi-final and "To Where You Are" by Josh Groban in the final.

After less than a year with Syco Music, he released a couple of singles and is now the low tenor of the group G4, a four-piece British vocal troupe.

Ashleigh and Pudsey (2012)

Ashleigh and Pudsey won the hearts of the UK public in 2012 when winning the competition, with the prize money bumped up to £500,000 for just that series.

Trainer Ashleigh and her dog, Pudsey, performed superb acts throughout the series as they amazed the crowd with sensational tricks and routines.

Attraction (2013)

Hungarian shadow theatre group Attraction became the first foreign act to win the competition in 2013, edging out runner-up Jack Carroll and third-placed Richard & Adam.

Attraction provoked emotion in their story-telling performances, capturing the audience from start to finish.

Collabro (2014)

Leeds-based Collabro, made up of Michael Auger, Jamie Lambert, Matthew Pagan, Thomas J. Redgrave, & Richard Hadfield, made the headlines in 2014 when winning the show.

Despite having been together for just a month before the audition, the opera singers wowed the judging panel with Stars' from Les Miserable, which they also performed in the final.

The group disbanded in December 2022.

Jules O'Dwyer & Matisse (2015)

Jules O'Dwyer and Matisse became the second dog act to win the competition in 2015, finishing ahead of runner-up Jamie Raven and third-placed Cor Glanaethwy.

There was controversy in the final performance, as another of O'Dwyer's dogs, Chase, performed one of the tricks and this was not made clear to the public.

Richard Jones (2016)

Former Soldier Richard Jones won series 10 of the Britain's Got Talent, performing mind-boggling magician acts to the amazement of everyone in attendance.

Tokio Myers (2017)

Pianist Tokio Myers became the first instrumentalist to win the competition in 2017, with his alternative version of 'Human' by Rag 'n' Bone Man in the final described by Cowell as "absolutely breathtakingly good".

Myers, who had previously supported Kanye West, The Police and Amy Winehouse before rising to fame on BGT, released his album, Our Generation, in 2017 and it reached fourth in the UK charts.

Lost Voice Guy (2018)

One of the most stunning winners of BGT was stand-up comedian Lee Ridley, known as Lost Voice Guy.

Disabled since early life and unable to speak, Ridley used his voice machine to perform his comedy acts and entertain the crowd throughout the series.

Colin Thackery (2019)

British Korean War veteran Colin Thackery sang his way to victory in the 2019 series, becoming the oldest winner of the competition at the age of 89.

He performed 'Love Changes Everything' by Michael Ball, accompanied by other Chelsea Pensioners, in the final, receiving a standing ovation from the crowd.

Jon Courtenay (2020)

Comedic singer/musician Jon Courtenay made history in 2020 when he became the first Golden Buzzer act to win the show, with Ant & Dec sending him through to the final.

In the final, he played the piano and sang about small things that make people happy. Judge Amanda Holden described it as "the exclamation mark of 2020".

Axel Blake (2022)

Comedian Axel Blake was the second Golden Buzzer act to win the show in 2022, having been sent straight through to the final by Cowell.

Viggo Venn (2023)

The second foreign act to win Britain's Got Talent, Norwegian Viggo Venn is arguably one of the strangest and wackiest acts to have ever won the competition in 2023.

Described as a novelty act, Venn danced to 'One More Time' by Daft Punk in a high-vis jacket, told a joke in his native tongue and played Space Invaders against alien models of himself and Cowell.

Britain's Got Talent previous winners

Paul Potts	2007
George Sampson	2008
Diversity	2009
Spelbound	2010
Jai McDowall	2011
Ashleigh and Pudsey	2012
Attraction	2013
Collabro	2014
Jules O'Dwyer & Matisse	2015
Richard Jones	2016
Tokio Myers	2017
Lost Voice Guy	2018
Colin Thackery	2019
Jon Courtenay	2020
Axel Blake	2022
Viggo Venn	2023