30 April 2023 , 17:29
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Amanda Holden has broken her silence after giving her Golden Buzzer to a Britain's Got Talent act that she met before the audition.
On Saturday, Amanda awarded the privilege to Olivia Lynes, 11 after a powerful rendition of Defying Gravity from the musical Wicked!, with her mum Melissa and Olivia's gran Sarah providing support in the wings.
Britain's Got Talent viewers were shown footage of Amanda meeting Olivia and inviting her to audition after the young girl's mum sent in her audition tapes.
After wowing the judges and receiving a standing ovation from the entire auditorium, Amanda pressed the Golden Buzzer.
She told the young singer: "You were my golden moment, you were the golden moment. You were absolutely amazing, you nailed that."
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Amanda pressed her Golden Buzzer for Olivia (ITV)Speaking about the moment, the Heart Radio host told MailOnline : "So I didn't know if I was allowed to press it for her because I’d actually met her the day before as part of our golden moments and encouraged her to come down and audition.
"But when I met her I had no idea if she could sing, and then was absolutely blown away by her performance."
Amanda explained Olivia was the sort of act she often presses her Golden Buzzer for and she couldn't resist giving the youngster the special recognition.
Some viewers claimed the touching moment was a "fix" as one tweeted: "What’s the point of this show? She’s hand-picked by Amanda, who then gives her a golden buzzer, what a fix."
"It is soooo obvious this is going to be Amanda’s golden buzzer this show is soooo staged #BGT," another wrote while a third added: "So Amanda invited her onto the show, so she could push the golden buzzer? #bgt #BritainsGotTalent."
Olivia sang Defying Gravity from the musical Wicked! (ITV)The Mirror exclusively revealed the Britain's Got Talent judge surprised Olivia as the youngster travelled to London’s Cambridge Theatre to see Matilda The Musical.
Olivia said: “She appeared from nowhere. I was so surprised! I felt so emotional. It was amazing.
“She was just like Miss Honey [the kind teacher who rescues young Matilda in the musical]. She was so beautiful.
“I can’t remember everything she said because I was so excited. I ran up to her and hugged her really tightly. When she asked if I would audition on BGT I said of course I would!”
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