Britain’s Got Talent winners ranked in order of importance
Take each winner's social media presence, add in some judges' comments, explore what they did next and here's how the previous winners stack up, says Emma Daly
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4. 2008 winner George Sampson
Dancer George Sampson takes fourth spot for me for his determination and versatility. Sampson didn’t make it to the live shows in 2007 – even Cowell admitted this was a mistake – but came back fighting for the 2008 title. Sampson helped Mint Royale’s version of Singin’ in the Rain rocket to number one on just downloads alone. He then became Cowell’s only non-music act to be signed to Syco in order to make a video for the track. Since his win, Sampson has popped up in StreetDance 3D (alongside fellow champs Diversity) and had a stint performing in West End show Into the Hoods. Adding another string to his bow, Sampson went on to have acting roles in TV series Mount Pleasant and long-running school-based drama Waterloo Road. He tops all the winners in Twitter followers with 247K under his belt and was just 14-years-old when he won the show. In fact, he makes me feel quite the underachiever, I might bump him down the list…
3. 2009’s winners Diversity
The judges’ jaws dropped when dance troupe Diversity took to the stage in 2009 with their impressive, and rather unexpected, mash-up. One dancer leapt out of a bag, they mixed street dance with Chariots of Fire, and pound signs all but leapt from Mr Cowell’s eyeballs. They’ve racked up more than 1m Facebook ‘likes’ – the most of any BGT winner – and while they may be just behind fellow champ George Sampson in Twitter followers (246K to his 247k), they’ve gone on to have various smash-hit tours, release a Diversity Dance Fitness Fusion DVD and appear in StreetDance 3D. Member Ashley Banjo has also been a judge on Sky1 talent show Got To Dance and Perri Kiely has also competed in ITV reality show Splash! Diversity aren’t disappearing any time soon.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLXbao-GpPE
2. 2012 winners Ashleigh and Pudsey
Well, if a film is a mark of success, Ashleigh and Pudsey have to come next really, don’t they? The fact that a dancing dog act won a reality show contest is one thing, but then to get a whole movie? Not just any movie either; things went full circle and BGT judge David Walliams actually voiced Pudsey (albeit to unenthusiastic reviews). And if that wasn’t enough, Pudsey and David have worked together before, the champion canine played Duchess in the TV adaptation of Walliams’s children’s book Mr Stink. Ashleigh and Pudsey’s first audition, where they performed a Flintstones dance to a gleeful Simon Cowell, has also earned 27.7 million views. Pudsey has a peachy 41K Twitter followers too which is pretty damn good for a dog.
1. 2007 winner Paul Potts
Operatic sensation Paul Potts, who used to work in the Carphone Warehouse, takes my top spot. Sure he lags behind other winners when it comes to Twitter and Facebook followers, but he smashes it out of the park with YouTube views. A whopping 134,000,000+ people have enjoyed his original performance of Nessun Dorma all over again. He was even invited to speak to Oprah Winfrey about it when the clip reached more than 92 million views. And if Oprah doesn’t seal the deal, the man has had a whole film made about his victory (by The Weinstein Company, no less), with James Corden in the leading role. And his original audition still gets the goosebumps going…
