Britain’s Got Talent: Stunt double dog ‘should have been clearer’
2 June 2015
From the section Entertainment & Arts
During the tightrope section of the winning act, Matisse was substituted by Chase (above)
ITV boss Peter Fincham has admitted Britain’s Got Talent should have made its winning act’s use of a stunt double dog “clearer”, calling the way it was presented “a judgement call”.
Matisse the dog and trainer Jules O’Dwyer won Sunday’s final, but she later revealed it was her other dog, Chase, in the act’s tightrope section.
Fincham said: “In hindsight… it would have been better if that was clear.”
Ofcom has received 365 complaints over the act, with another 130 made to ITV.
Some outraged viewers complained on Twitter of being “misled” after they voted for Matisse to win. Figures have shown the dog act won by a 2% margin, getting 22.6% of votes compared with 20.4% for magician Jamie Raven.
Fincham said those watching the programme and who were familiar with O’Dwyer’s act would have known she had more than one trained dog.
“In the semi-final it was made quite clear the other dog played a role in it,” he told the Voice of the Listener and Viewer’s spring conference.
“In the audition it was made quite clear this was a dog act with a range of dogs. In hindsight, in the final it would have been better if that was clear.”
Just Matisse joined O’Dwyer on stage when she spoke to hosts Ant and Dec
Source:: BBC Entertainment
