Dec was left clutching his chest thanks to Ant’s mishap

BRITAIN’S Got Talent was left in chaos when Ant McPartlin accidentally made his co-star Declan Donnelly jump out of his skin on live TV.

The Geordie duo were presenting the last live semi-final BGT show of the week when a discarded prop suddenly caught Ant’s eye.

Ant McPartlin shocked his co-star Declan Donnelly on live TVCredit: ITV

Dec jumped out of his skin when Ant accidentally set off a smoke gunCredit: ITV

The blunder happened in the final live semi-final of the weekCredit: ITV

Singer Gambino Akuboy had just brought the house down with his song It’s The Weekend, which saw dancers blast smoke guns into the air.

Ant, 48, saw one of them lying on the stage and picked it up, assuming the power had been disconnected.

But as he pressed the trigger, a huge plume of smoke shot out – and made Dec, also 48, leap into the air in shock.

“Ooh it works!” Ant cried, as Dec clutched at his chest.

The blunder didn’t go unnoticed with eagle-eyed viewers watching at home.

Taking to X, formerly known as Twitter, one posted a ‘crying’ emoji and wrote: “Ant’s reaction to it actually working!”

Another added: “Ant’s so naughty!”

And a third asked: “Does Ant forget he’s on live TV?”

This week has seen five semi-final shows air on ITV1 every night, hosted by Ant and Dec.

Each one has been live and resulted in two semi-finalists from each episode landing places in Sunday night’s live final.

But viewers haven’t always been happy with the way the results at the end of the two-hour shows have gone.

The public vote automatically puts one act straight through, before the judges pick their favourite for the second act.

But judges Simon Cowell, Alesha Dixon, Amanda Holden and Bruno Tonioli have kept finding themselves in deadlock.

This happened three nights in a row – and each time it ended up going back to the public vote as they could not decide.

One fan raged: “Seriously tho what Is the point In having the judges there if they just take it to public vote most times.”

Dec was left clutching his chest following Ant’s mishapCredit: ITV

The smoke gun had been used in Gambino Akuboy’s semi-final audition

Viewers have moaned at the BGT judges for failing to agree on the acts each night

Britain’s Got Talent’s biggest ‘fix’ rows

Britain’s Got Talent has been plagued with ‘fix’ rows over the years. How many of these do you remember?

Jasmine Elcock – 2016: Teenage singer Jasmine Elcock stunned the nation with her version of Cher’s Believe. But it then transpired she had already performed professionally in London’s West End. Jasmine, 14, admitted: “I’ve performed in Annie in the West End at about the age of nine or 10, but I really get nervous.”

IrShad Shaikh – 2017: BGT fans were left questioning the rule book when IrShad Shaikh auditioned. He got four red buzzers from the judges, which would usually mean an instant dismissal. Yet in a strange turn of events, they let him continue with his act…and put him through to the next round.

Colin Thackery – 2019: Elderly war veteran Colin won BGT in 2019, but there was an outcry over the final. He warbled his place to win with a version of We’ll Meet Again but fans were furious that escapologist Jonathan Goodwin didn’t even rank in the top three. Viewers felt Jonathan – who almost suffocated while being buried alive in a gravel pit – should have won.

Axel Blake – 2022: Comedian Axel Blake was given a Golden Buzzer in 2022 after making the judges laugh. But fans were fuming when they discovered Axel already had a show on worldwide streaming platform Amazon Prime. Despite this, Axel still went on to win the series.

Loren Allred – 2022: The 2022 series of BGT was hit with another controversy when singer Loren Allred also received a Golden Buzzer. She performed Never Enough from the smash hit musical movie The Greatest Showman and got a standing ovation. It later transpired Loren was actually the original voice behind the track.

Taryn Charles – 2024: Singer Taryn Charles is one of this year’s hopefuls lucky enough to receive the Golden Buzzer. Bruno Tonilio put her straight through to the semi-finals following her performance of (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman by Aretha Franklin, but it has now come to light that she is no stranger to TV. Viewers recognised Taryn from an episode of ITV1’s Starstruck, where she impersonated Whitney Houston for judges Olly Murs, Sheridan Smith, Adam Lambert and Beverley Knight.