Britain's Got Talent judges give their verdict on Stacey Solomon as she makes her debut on ITV panel - with Amanda Holden admitting she HATED standing in for Simon Cowell

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The Britain's Got Talent judges have given their verdict on Stacey Solomon after her debut on the panel of the ITV talent competition.

The former X Factor contestant, who rose to fame in 2009, will appear alongside Amanda Holden, Alesha Dixon and YouTube star KSI for an upcoming episode. 

Simon Cowell will go missing from the panel for one episode, as Amanda, 55, takes on the role as head judge on the ITV series. 

And it will see Stacey, 36, who is the host of Sort Your Life Out, a Loose Women panellist and star of her own reality series Stacey & Joe, take a seat on the panel.

Luckily for Stacey, the show's judges and hosts Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly alike admitted they were thrilled to have her on board, gushing over her as 'warm, funny and down to earth'.

Asked what it was like to have Stacey join the series, co-star Alesha, 47, said: 'Stacey was adorable. She’s so sweet, very natural, and I liked the way she spoke to contestants because she's always coming from a good place. 

The Britain's Got Talent judges have given their verdict on Stacey Solomon after her debut on the panel of the ITV talent competition

Former X Factor contestant Stacey, who rose to fame in 2009, will appear alongside Amanda Holden , Alesha Dixon and YouTube star KSI for an upcoming episode

'She’s a good person and she cares. If there was something she didn’t like or didn’t get, she would say, but she’d do it in that Stacey charm that she has. 

'She knows how it feels to be on stage and audition, so she had that empathy for them. I thought she did a great job!'

While host Ant, 50, chimed in: 'Stacey knows exactly what it's like to stand on this stage, audition and be judged for a show like this.

'It was nice for her to sit there in the judge's chair and put herself in the shoes of every auditionee who walked on stage. She had a lot of empathy with them.'

And Dec, 50, agreed: 'She was a really handy addition to the judges’ panel. She was quite insightful in some of her critiques, so she did a really good job.'

Amanda added: 'She's so lovely and I think we've got quite a similar style of judging. She's warm, she’s super funny, she has a great understanding of what it's like to be on the other side, because she obviously auditioned for The X Factor.

'Even though she's smashing it in the real world now, she's very down to earth and doesn't have an ego, so I think that worked really nicely for the day that she was pulled in. We're all fans of her.'

It wasn't all good for Amanda, however, who admitted she HATED standing in for Simon in his absence, adding: 'I must admit I hated sitting in that seat! 

The 2026 judging panel will once again feature Simon Cowell , Amanda Holden and Alesha Dickson, as well as newcomer KSI - with Ant and Dec returning as hosts

Ant and Dec heaped praise on Stacey as she filled in a spot on the judging panel

'I've been on the show the longest, so I understand why I probably need to sit in that seat, but when I was there, I felt very outcast on the end. 

'It's okay if your team are sat to the left of you, Simon's got dozens of staff and family watching from the side and communicating with him. 

'Mine all decided to eat my snacks and sit in the dressing room paying no attention to the show or me whatsoever! 

'Simon said to me, "You must have loved it. Did you feel powerful?" I said I hated it because I had to keep leaning in to be part of the conversation. 

'I never want to sit in that seat again! I'm juicy in the middle, it’s such a good spot.'

It comes after two Britain's Got Talent judges were given 'a big talking to' by producers of the ITV show after a prank plot was discovered behind-the-scenes of the series.

Amanda revealed that the judged found themselves in trouble when it was discovered that Simon had visited a local joke shop during filming - and had planned to let off a very stinky surprise.

The head judge and BGT creator discovered the shop nearby Blackpool's the Winter Gardens in breaks between filming, and decided to let out his 'naughty side'.

Amanda explained how Simon had gone in and bought some stink bombs, that were soon discovered by production staff who told them off for the planned prank.

Amanda admitted she HATED standing in for Simon in his absence

Amanda took on the role as head judge when Simon was away for one epiosde

She told Metro: 'Word got round that the stink bombs had been bought and the producers gave us a big talking to. We weren’t allowed them...'

Fellow judge Alesha Dixon, who has appeared on the series since 2012, admitted that the series was packed with 'bonkers' antics from the panel. 

She added that the judges were left 'fighting' over the golden buzzers, so much so that when she dived across the table to beat Simon to it, she was told by production to 'recreate' the 'bonkers' moment for viewers to see on screen.

Alesha added: 'I could sense Simon getting up, and I literally dived. I’ve never dived before. I dived onto the desk and then they wanted me to recreate this dive... I injured myself just to stop him getting his way, but it was so funny. 

'This season felt like we were back to the chaos that we love on our show. More than ever it just felt really bonkers.’ 

Fellow judge KSI, the latest addition to the panel, recently backed up the claims, admitting that he caused 'havoc' on set during one Golden Buzzer act.

KSI, real name Olajide Olatunji, admitted: 'A golden buzzer act literally left the other judges speechless and we don’t often see them stuck for words.

'But I’ve caused havoc because although the other judges were disgusted, I thought it was one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen.'

Fellow judge KSI, the latest addition to the panel, recently backed up the claims, admitting that he caused 'havoc' on set during one Golden Buzzer act

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Two Britain's Got Talent judges 'given a big talking to' by producers after behind-the-scenes plot

He explained that he had been happy to play the 'bad guy' on set, dishing out brutally honest verdicts to those displaying their talents on stage. 

'I’m quite a loud, expressive person and I’m happy to get on stage and jump around. I’m there to really get involved whether it’s judging or getting involved with the acts,' he added.

‘I don’t mind being the bad guy. I’m going to tell it how it is. If I see something boring I’ll tell them it’s boring. Maybe I need to work on my vocabulary, but that’s just how I am.'

KSI also admitted that both on and off camera, the panel have built up a brilliant chemistry - with the YouTube star learning to pick up on when Simon is 'in a wind up mood'. 

'Considering we haven’t known each other properly for very long, and we’re all quite different personalities, we’ve all become close in a short space of time,’ he said.

‘I’ve even learnt the look Simon has when he’s in a wind-up mood. Then I know Amanda is going to be in for a day of it because I see the glint in his eye, and I know he’s going to keep us on our toes.

'I’ve also started to spot the signs of when they’re going to push their golden buzzers. They each have this poker face they pull, but I can spot them and know the hand they’re going to play.’

Britain's Got Talent returns Saturday at 7pm on ITV1 and ITVX