'Britain's Got Talent': Where Are The Winners Today?

We've been hooked on Britain's Got Talent and its lineup of judges since it was first broadcast in June 2007. Hosted by the loveable duo Ant & Dec we have marvelled, often with mouths agape, at the sheer variety of contestants and the amount of pure, raw talent on the show. Those that make it through the auditions then have to survive the live semi-finals for a chance to win the, frankly, huge cash prize and the amazing opportunity to perform at the Royal Variety Performance. But what has happened to some of our favourite winners once Britain's Got Talent is over?

The first-ever winner of Britain's Got Talent in 2007, Carphone Warehouse employee Paul Potts stunned judges with a perfect rendition of Puccini's "Nessun Dorma". His audition soon went viral online and is one of the top 100 most-watched YouTube videos ever. His first album One Chance sold more than 2 million copies. Between 2013 and 2016 he sang at various venues around the world before performing in two full-length opera roles in summer 2016, starring in Puccini's Tosca at Chiswick House in June and Wagner's Der Fliegende Holländer in Hungary in July.

2008's winner was street dancer George Sampson, who wowed audiences and judges alike with his dance performance to Mint Royale's remix of Gene Kelly's classic "Singin' In The Rain". Determined to impress, he even had an artificial rain machine adding the, er, you guessed it, rain. After winning Britain's Got Talent, he started acting as well as dancing and starred in the West End hip-hop musical Into The Hoods as well as in the film StreetDance. He also played "Kyle Stack" in Waterloo Road from 2011-2013 and "Ryan Harald" in Emmerdale in 2016.
In April 2017, Sampson had a hair transplant to get rid of a bald patch on the top of his head caused by spinning on it while breakdancing.

Diversity won back in 2009, beating favourite Susan Boyle. They still dance together and sold out London's O2 arena in 2012. They became household names when the group's leader Ashley Banjo appeared as a judge on the hit show Got To Dance and Jorden Banjo and Perri Kiely captured audiences everywhere working as backstage hosts. They went on their 7th UK arena tour in 2017 and made their pantomime debut in December 2017 in Dick Whittington at the London Palladium.

2010 saw acrobatic gymnasts Spellbound claim the Britain's Got Talent crown. They went on to perform at the London 2012 Olympics, providing entertainment for the crowds between the various competitive rhythmic gymnastics rounds. They were also a part of the closing ceremony. As the group's members got older, some of them went on to do other things entirely, while others are now dance or gymnastics teachers.

Jai McDowall won Britain's Got Talent in 2011. He was signed by Syco, Simon Cowell's record label shortly afterward, but was swiftly dropped again when his debut album Believe was a complete flop. Cowell also went on to publically shame him, stating that he was "disappointed with last year's winner, Jai." Poor Jai!

2012 winners Ashleigh and Pudsey were a charming double act. Since winning, they have performed in several pantomimes and have appeared in various TV shows such as Top Dog Model, That Dog Can Dance! and Who Let the Dogs Out? Pudsey even starred in his own film, where he was voiced by David Walliams!

2013's winners were shadow theatre group Attraction. The Hungarian theatre troupe were already famous in Europe after having appeared on the German version of Got Talent. They managed to go on to secure a very lucrative deal, performing their show at the Mirage theatre in Las Vegas.

Musical theatre group Collabro won Britain's Got Talent in 2014. Their debut album Stars was a huge success and went straight to number one. They have been on tours in the UK, Japan, Canada, and the US. They released a second album titled Act Two in 2015. In 2016 Richard Hadfield left the band, but they went on to release another album, Home, without him in March 2017, which did not do too badly and entered the charts at number 7.

Jules O'Dwyer and her dogs became the tenth Britain's Got Talent winners. However, as Jules had first only appeared with her dog Matisse, some viewers were angry when it emerged that her second dog Chase had also performed in the live final of the show. Since winning, not much has been heard about O'Dwyer and her talented dogs.